All Things Probable IV: Graduation
by Slyrr
Summary: Ron had Wannaweep - Rhonda has Kwitcherbeliakin! Team Probable returns to Rhonda's hated summer camp for a looming showdown! In fact everyone seems to be turning up there - including Chief Sakituya, Gentle Paw, Maze, and even jealous Grimm! Maze has a plot in mind to use Team Probable to destroy the world - what could it be...? Read and review!
1. Ch 1: Prologue

Prologue:

The Lowardian battlecruiser glided through space like a fist of clenched metal, ready to strike. It dwarfed the smaller cruisers surrounding it, and was flanked by dozens of other battlecruisers that were equally large. Each capital ship was studded with weapon batteries and pitted with launching bays for fighter craft.

The fleet was following a planet - the third planet from the sun in a system of gas giants, planets and planetoids. The fleet had taken positions several hundred thousand miles away from the planet in question, shadowing its 60,000 mile per hour orbit.

On board the cruiser, the mood was tense - as it always was when they were about to begin a military operation. Even so, the Lorwardian soldiers, though they were all experienced veterans, felt a chill as they heard a pair of heavy footfalls echoing through the corridors of the battlecruiser. Even among Lorwardians, their commander was feared and respected. BattleSkaar strode through the halls of the flagship he commanded. Those who served on his ship all froze and saluted as he passed, while he casually saluted back, allowing them to return to their duties.

BattleSkaar was one of several captains in the Lorwardian fleet. He commanded all the ships in the forward and center wings, comprising his command ship and nearly fifty smaller cruisers. BattleF'yuri commanded the ships in the left wing, while BattleKry commanded the right. BattleLeon commanded the rear wing, which rankled the younger general - a fact which he had voiced quite loudly during several staff meetings. Eager and ferocious, he had been insulted at having been assigned to the section of the fleet that was least likely to see any fighting. But commanding the entire fleet was supreme general Warhok - and even BattleLeon did not dare to question him. At Warhok's orders, he had submitted to the dishonorable position of rearguard for the fleet.

- o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

Being of a race that honored prowess in battle above all else, the Lorwardian society had evolved accordingly. Military persons held all rank and privilege. And ranks within the Military Class were divided according to an individual's strength, skill, and the number of victories to their credit. Names were given according to progression within that rank, distinguished by the level of conflict they were deemed capable of enduring.

The highest rank was _War_. And among Lorwardians, to have a name coupled with war was considered among the greatest honors. Supreme General Warhok had earned his title through countless victories, and by vanquishing many rivals. His captain general, Warmonga, was of a similar sort. General Warweery was older and more cunning, but as he aged he became less strong and brutal. Warlok was considered a strategist without peer, though he was more fond of planning battles than he was of fighting them.

Beneath them in rank were the Battles, of which BattleSkaar was one of the most respected. They commanded the Riots, who saw more direct action in the field as they oversaw the Feuds. Beneath the Feuds were the Clashes, who commanded platoons of ten squadrons. Each squadron was led by a Skirmish, subdivided into troops, each troop led by a Duel. The Duels commanded the smaller squads, who were led by the Fights, and the Fights commanded each soldier in their squad, who were the Spars.

And then there were the numberless people on the homeworld of Lorwardia, who had no title of honor attached to their names. They simply had names - without appendages of battle or glory. These were deemed too weak for fighting, fit only for planting and raising food, working metal, building machines, or other mundane tasks. They were peons - chattel - laboring in anonymity while the warrior class reaped honor and glory in battle.

Nevertheless, these workers and civilians had to be kept pacified. After all, they outnumbered the military by over ten million to one, a fact that the military did not overlook. Without the peons, there would be no buildings, ships, weapons, food or supplies - all things which the military needed. Though the thought of doing the menial labor required to produce them was repulsive to the military class. Lorwardia had to be kept prosperous enough that the peons caused no trouble and voiced no discontent. Unrest meant fighting against their own people, troublesome inquisitions, trials and executions. It was simply easier for the military to let the peons have their fun by handing them occasional spoils of war, rather than having to deal with unruly mobs.

And that meant the military had to conquer other worlds periodically. It served the dual purpose of satisfying the military class' desire for conquest, while at the same time supplying the peasants with enough trinkets to keep them quiet. Things had gone well for a long time. But lately, things had begun to change.

Where exactly it had started, no one could tell, but a murmur of discontent had begun among the peasant class. Many of them were beginning to question the wisdom of their interstellar campaigns. Weak and sympathetic, a number of citizens were actually _thinking_ about the other worlds that had been conquered, and the state they had been left in.

They had begun outrageous talk about 'having more than they needed', and of actually leaving other worlds alone. They began telling stories about the suffering which other races endured as a result of their brutal military. And then a prophecy began to spread, tales of a 'Great Blue'. Someone who would reach out to Lorwardia from across the stars.

The military took the strange prophecy to mean the arrival of a new captain general who would lead them in ever more glorious campaigns of conquest. The peons, however, were not convinced - and were whispering that this might be a new kind of leader who would show Lorwardia a way they might live in peace with other worlds, tend to their own affairs, and bring an end to their constant state of war.

To many, it was nonsense. But even among the military class, some took the prophecy seriously enough that it began to affect their behavior. Even Warmonga had run off to some far-flung world after viewing one of its satellite transmissions, believing that some strange being with blue skin was the 'Great Blue'.

She had returned in humiliation. The being she had pledged loyalty to had been a fraud. And it was shortly afterwards that the entire Lorwardian fleet had been mustered, and word went out that another world was to be invaded.

- o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

BattleSkaar strode onto the bridge of his ship. The rest of the crew, the Fights, the Duels and others, were at their stations. Everyone turned and saluted, then immediately went back to their labors after his nod of acknowledgement. BattleSkaar's heavily muscled frame caused the command chair to lurch as he sat down. His first officer, Sor'dClash, stood next to the command chair, awaiting orders.

'Remind me again, Sor'dClash - what plaything is this?' said BattleSkaar. 'What world is it that Warhok now seeks to add to his list of the conquered?'

'An obscure body in the S-K system, Captain.' said Sor'dClash, in a drawling, idle voice. 'The inhabitants refer to it as the planet... _Earth_.'

BattleSkaar looked at the viewscreen at the glowing blue orb. It was blotched with green landmasses, and overlaid in places by streaks of white cloud. 'How peaceful it looks.' he said quietly.

'Looks are deceiving in this case, sir.' said Sor'dClash. He held up his data pad, and read from the data that scrolled across it. 'There are several factions vying for dominance, though their efforts, in the main, are focused on _economic_ dominance. The actual fighting seems localized to various tribal disputes which are being fought through secret combinations. There are bombings, terrorism, snipers, and a number of declared intentions of hostility. But as of yet, none of them have massed armies large enough to challenge the dominant nations, and a balance of power exists, albeit a fragile one.'

BattleSkaar nodded. 'What do they have in the way of technology - offensive and defensive?'

Sor'dClash scrolled through more data. 'By our standards, quite primitive. They rely mostly on missiles, projectile weapons and a variety of land and air based vehicles to deploy them. The projectiles are mostly lead slugs. The missiles have varying range and explosive capabilities. Some of them are thermonuclear. Crude.'

'But effective.' BattleSkaar growled.

'Easily circumvented.' said Sor'dClash. 'They have only limited exo-atmospheric capabilities. The fleet can easily bombard this world from space - we can lay waste to them...'

BattleSkaar rumbled deep in his throat, and Sor'dClash went silent at once. 'It is the wish of General Warhok that this world be taken in battle.' he said.

Sor'dClash seemed to be trying to stop his face from grimacing. 'That... complicates matters, Captain.' he said. 'May I ask why? It would take considerably less time and effort to destroy them from orbit.'

BattleSkaar stared at his first officer. 'You are very intelligent, Sor'dClash.' he said. 'And you have freer access to the men than I do. Tell me - what have _they_ guessed, and what are they saying?'

Sor'dClash really did grimace this time. He glanced around the bridge, moving nothing but his yellow eyes. At last he said, 'That may not be a matter for many ears.' and he had lowered his voice almost to a mumbled silence.

BattleSkaar stood up suddenly, and strode towards his private chamber, motioning for Sor'dClash to follow. The stark metal door hissed closed behind them, and they were alone in a small room off to the side on the bridge. It was dark, and a number of weapons and war trophies decorated the walls. Beyond that there was no furniture besides a computer console desk and a rough chair. 'No one else will hear.' he said. 'Speak plainly.'

Sor'dClash nodded in a half-bow. 'If... you command it, my captain.' he said.

'I do.' said BattleSkaar impatiently. 'Speak!'

Sor'dClash heaved a sigh, and kept his head lowered so he was not looking directly into BattleSkaar's eyes. 'The men have observed and analyzed this planet. They know this world has barely enough resources to sustain itself. Any spoils we gain from conquest would be pitifully small and would not come close to covering the cost for this campaign.' He paused.

BattleSkaar folded his arms, his muscles causing his armored uniform to creak. 'Go on.' he said.

Sor'dClash raised his head slightly. 'Nearly all the men also know that this world has no strategic value. Conquering it brings no additional security to Lorwardia. Several of the strategists, even Captain BloodFeud, are openly saying that coming here _diminishes_ our security since it is so far away from our quadrant.'

'I see.' said BattleSkaar. 'And... what do _you_ think?'

Sor'dClash relowered his head. 'I hesitate to speak, Captain.' he said.

'If you seek to prevent me from becoming angry, it is too late for that.' BattleSkaar growled. 'Only honesty will get you out of this room alive.'

Sor'dClash's skin turned a pastel green as he paled. 'I serve Lorwardia.' he said, his voice shivering slightly. 'I obey my superiors. My loyalty is to our world and to my Generals...'

'And yet you doubt them?' said BattleSkaar. 'Is that what you are _trying_ to say?'

'What the men are saying is _true_, sir.' he said, sounding afraid. 'This world has nothing of value to justify the cost and effort of this campaign. And if we are expected to conduct the campaign conventionally, we will expose the fleet to needless losses. Their weapons are crude, but as you say, effective. They have enough nuclear devices to inflict heavy damage - if we cannot destroy them from space. The men are saying it is only because of Warmonga...' he cut himself off suddenly.

BattleSkaar sighed. At last he was getting to the core of the matter. And it was a matter that even the generals were discussing in whispers among themselves. Warmonga, and her ill- fated trip to this planet. Sor'dClash lowered his voice again as he kept speaking.

'The men know it was _this_ world where Warmonga was tricked and nearly defeated. They are saying it is only because she is Warhok's battle-mate that we are even here - that this war is being waged simply for the sake of her pride and his affection.'

BattleSkaar walked over to the viewport window, staring out into the inky void speckled with white stars. Earth was visible as a larger orb in the distance. Warmonga. Ever since she had gained that victory in the battle of the thirteen moons of Jingos, she had become steadily more reckless and proud - and annoying. Her victories had given her an inflated opinion of herself. She had even developed an insufferable habit of screaming her own name every time she struck a blow, or launched an attack. Even among Lorwardians, it was arrogant.

'There is more, sir.' said Sor'dClash hesitantly, though he seemed a bit more steady, as his Captain had not shown any more visible signs of anger. 'The Galactic Governing Body, as you well know, has become ever more meddlesome...'

BattleSkaar grunted. The Governing Body was a source of constant vexation to the Lorwardian Empire. They launched fierce protests every time Lorwardia began another campaign. For the most part, the Lorwadians ignored them and continued in their conquests. But Lorwardian territory was ever expanding, and getting closer to the worlds that the Governing Body claimed as their territory. So long as the Lorwardians did not attack any member worlds of the Governing Body, they seemed content to simply protest their 'brutish' Lorwardian neighbors. But it was only a matter of time before their excursions led into territory held by the Governing Body. When that happened...

Sor'dClash was still speaking. 'Our spies have learned that their genetic scientists created the creature they called Experiment 626 as a specific attempt to deceive us by providing a 'Great Blue' that they alone would control.' he said. 'They had thought we would accept that creature as our leader, and through the creature, they thought to control _us_. If Warmonga had been the one who encountered 626, they might have succeeded.'

BattleSkarr heaved a deep sigh. Sor'dClash was right. The intelligence reports indicated that experiment 626 had been a powerful creature, and an able fighter. That alone would have had Warmonga bowing before it. And if enough gullible military followed her... BattleSkaar shook his head at the thought of how much discord it would have sown among the troops. 'Go on.' he said.

'Some have wondered if the Great Blue that Warmonga encountered on this world is yet another instance of the Governing Body's attempts to wrest control of our Empire.' Sor'dClash said. 'Given the distance of this world from Lorwardian space, and given its proximity to territory held by the Governing Body, and given that this excursion severely weakens the fleet in more crucial sectors...'

BattleSkaar turned. 'Then you will inform the men, at every viable opportunity, that this is their opportunity to take vengeance on the Governing Body for their trickery.' he said. Even though a conventional invasion would be more difficult and time-consuming, he was a Lorwardian commander. And it was his duty to inspire the men behind the cause. 'If the Blue one who lives here is another of the Governing Body's puppets, then our troops will have the honor of crushing him. This entire world will suffer our wrath. If any of the men fear the weapons that this world possesses, then have them report to me. I will personally strip them of their rank and send them back to Lorwardia - to join the laborers.'

Sor'dClash winced, but he bowed his head. 'It shall be as you command.' he said.

'Then let us return to the bridge.' said BattleSkaar. 'You will speak none of your doubts to the men - raise their spirits, with the promise of conquest and victory!'

Sor'dClash bowed still lower. 'Yes, Captain.' he said.

Even as they strode back onto the bridge, there was a beeping noise from one of the stations, and a group of several Fights were examining their consoles while the Duels muttered to them. BattleSkaar sat in his command chair. 'Report!' he bellowed.

DuelLyst approached and bowed. 'We have received a strange message from one of the fighter squadrons in charge of the marker project.' he said.

BattleSkaar nodded. As part of the preparation for the invasion, Warhok had ordered a special task force. These were their stealthiest fighters, practiced in surprise attacks from their ships. Their orders were to set marks on the surface of the planet, designating each marked area as a landing zone for their walker drones.

It was a tricky operation, because Earth had a vast web of communication satellites. The satellites mostly monitored things taking place _on_ their planet, and were not geared towards scanning space. But Warhok had ordered them to set the markers, and to do their best to avoid detection. Warhok would not allow the invasion to start until all the markers were set. It was a time-consuming process that was going very slowly, and leading to impatience among the more eager Spars and Fights.

Each mark could only be set once they were sure that all the Earthling satellites were clear from an area. It would have been easier to simply destroy the satellites, but again, they had been forbidden by Warhok. Sor'dClash had not understood why, until BattleSkaar had informed him of Warhok's order that the campaign be conventional.

DuelLyst continued. 'Marker 23 was successfully set, after much difficulty avoiding their satellite network.' he said. 'But it seems to have... disappeared.'

BattleSkaar leaned back, glaring. Recognizing the silent cue, Sor'dClash broke in. 'Explain.' he barked.

DuelLyst fidgeted. 'I... have no explanation, sir.' he said. 'One moment it was there, then it was gone.' He turned towards the main viewscreen and tapped a control module on his wrist. A glowing green map, showing one of Earth's larger landmasses appeared, then zoomed in closer until it zeroed in on a blinking red dot. There were a few other dots on the landmass, but they were green and glowing steadily.

'Curious.' said BattleSkaar, scratching his bearded chin. 'Perhaps this is another instance of the way Earthling technology has evolved in ways that ours has not. Warmonga reported they have developed some kind of cloaking devices. Could this be an instance of it?'

'I do not think so, my Captain.' said DuelLyst. 'The cloaking Warmonga described was an electronic distortion that rendered anything within its field invisible. In this case, the marker is still there. But it seems to be shrouded in... _darkness_.'

BattleSkaar tapped his finger on the armrest of his command chair for several silent seconds. 'Send the fighter craft back for a closer look.' he said at last. If any Earthlings have uncovered the marker operation, we must silence them. Order the fighters to use any means at their disposal to avoid detection. Once they have determined the source of this... aberration, have them return and report.'

DuelLyst saluted. 'For Lorwardia!' he said, and went back to the other Deuls at their consoles.

Sor'dClash cleared his throat and muttered quietly. 'If any earthlings_ have_ discovered our movements, Warhok will be _very _displeased.'

'And so will I.' BattleSkaar growled. 'Weeks of labor, undone by a moment's carelessness. The punishments will be most severe. But... I will wait for the reports, and then decide. Go, Sor'dClash, and make sure that my orders are carried out. Oversee them personally.'

Sor'dClash nodded and hastened away.

BattleSkaar tented his fingers and stared at the main viewscreen and the distant blue planet. For some time, he remained that way, ignoring the bustle of the others around him. His mind went over preparations, plans and possibilities that might unfold when Warhok finally gave word to begin the invasion.

Even in a conventional war, the Earthlings could not hope to match their military technology. But he knew as well as anyone that planning a war was one thing - and carrying it out was another matter entirely. A solid strategy was important. But equally important was to make plans for the unexpected.

A marksman trained endlessly with his firearms, using them, maintaining them and handling them until doing so became a muscle memory that could be put into action in an instant. It was the same with almost any weapon, and the principle applied to battle tactics as well. A troop of soldiers who drilled and prepared for a specific action was more likely to succeed than a troop who had no such preparation.

This unknown eventuality with their markers may be a small matter - then again it might not. But it troubled him to the point where he felt he needed to find out more, and put a plan into action to account for it.

And while the fleet continued its operations, BattleSkaar continued to think and plan. To prepare for anything possible. And anything probable.

Coming Soon

Graduation:  
>All Things Probable 4<p>

A Team Probable Story  
>Based in the world of Disney's 'Kim Possible'<br>by Greg Fisk (aka "Slyrr")

Kim Possible is owned/copyrighted by Disney and its affiliates, etc.

_Author's Notes: Sorry about the slower pace on this one. But it requires some pretty careful thinking out. I hope you find it worth the effort. A number of people have asked the question over the course of the All Things Probable series, and the question was, 'Did Team Probable do anything during the invasion?' This story will be the answer to that question!_

_Team Probable had to have a Graduation too, and this is it! This story will be more like 'Back To Kwitcherbeliakin', in the sense that Team Possible and Team Probable will not directly interact with each other. According to canon, Team Probable was not seen anywhere near Kim and the gang during the events of Graduation. But anyone who knows Team Probable by now knows them well enough to realize that they do some of their best work from the sidelines!_

_The Graduation episode had some gaping holes in it, as most KP fans well know. The biggest of which was the glossing over of a worldwide Lordwardian invasion that seemed to have only ONE spaceship and two Lorwardians. Where were the others? What was going on all over the rest of the planet while Kim and Ron were dealing with things on their end?_

_As readers of the ATP series know, I love filling in those nagging gaps. Hopefully readers will agree that this story will provide that in spades! (Don't worry - I don't anticipate the tale being as long as A Friend in Darkness :) )_

_Incidentally - there have been a number of things going on in real life for me, including the loss of my 10 year job over the summer. While I've found a job that can keep the bills paid, I'm still on the hunt for something closer to home and that pays better. So I'm dividing my time between work, job hunting, making portfolio projects and other things. As such, I don't have as much time for writing and drawing for this project. I fear that means I'll have to limit my drawings per chapter to about 2 or 3, unless inspiration REALLY hits me and I can't stop myself. It just takes too much time. Sorry about that..._


	2. Chapter 1

All Things Probable IV  
>Graduation<p>

Chapter 1:  
>Back in the Saddle<p>

It was night outside the Borealis Military base. The wide compound was mostly quiet, except for the chirping of crickets in the wooded grounds outside the base. Within the barbed wire fences which surrounded the base, there was only the treading sound of booted feet as soldiers made their rounds on guard duty. At times, there was also the hum of a motor as Jeeps occasionally swept past, running errands or aiding the patrols.

The area that housed the Research and Development labs within the base was considered a plum assignment for the soldiers and guards. Intruders and thieves were almost always caught by the troops and sentries outside the fences. Since the labs were deep inside the base, the guards at the research buildings usually never saw any action, so they were a bit more relaxed.

Sergeant Carter was therefore mostly at his ease. The soldiers in his squad were dispersed according to orders and all seemed quiet. He was enjoying the brief peace of not having to shout orders and drill his troops when a shape loomed up in the darkness of the streets that criss-crossed the base. Carter tensed for a moment, but the shape revealed only an approaching soldier carrying a box.

'Coffee as ordered, Sergeant!' said the soldier, with a somewhat goofy sounding voice.

Carter nodded, accepting the cup handed to him from the caddy. 'Is it extra black, Private Pyle?' he said gruffly.

'Yes sir, Sergeant Carter!' said Pyle. He looked like he was trying to salute, but both hands were needed to steady the box and the many cups inside. So he settled for nodding firmly and clicking his heels. 'I know the squad has to stay up late, and nothing helps with that more than a nice cup of coffee! Why my momma once said...'

Carter was sipping from his cup and rolling his eyes. Quickly, he stopped drinking, knowing that if he didn't head Pyle off, the fiercely loyal but overly folksy private could go on for hours. 'Pyle, haven't you got _other_ cups to deliver?'

Pyle stopped abruptly. 'Oh - well I reckon I do at that...'

'Carry on then, private!' he barked.

Pyle smiled, showing a slight overbite of white teeth. 'Yes _sir,_ Sergeant Carter!'

Pyle was turning to circle around the building and make his deliveries to the other soldiers in their squad, and Carter was taking another sip from his drink. Suddenly the inky darkness of the night was bathed with piercing white light.

Carter spat out his coffee as he looked up at what seemed to be a descending array of spotlights that blinded him. He heard a throbbing, humming sound and felt a rush of air. He didn't need to see clearly to know that some kind of vehicle was approaching from directly above.

Pyle was looking up with a dumbfounded expression. 'Gaaaah-_lee_!' he said. 'Is we bein' invaded by aliens?'

There was a sudden hissing sound like the blowing of many fire extinguishers. Carter and Pyle saw a grey mist whipping around them, and the air they breathed in had a sharp, tinny taste. A scant second later, they both collapsed to the ground, unconscious. Pyle's box and the coffee fell from his limp grasp and spilled all over the pavement.

The mist blew through the entire base like a dense fog, propelled by turbines and pipes that were fitted all over the vehicle that hovered above the base. Within thirty seconds, every soldier was knocked out.

The roof of the lab was blasted open, and ropes descended. A dozen burly men in grey uniforms slid neatly down and fanned out through the facility. With gas guns in hand, they made quick work of the few scientists and soldiers who hadn't been knocked out already. Soon one of them tapped a comlink in his helmet and spoke, his voice muffled by a protective mask.

'All clear, Professor.' he said.

A mechanical stairwell unfolded from the hovering vehicle and a lone figure descended casually, majestically into the lab. He was short and squat, but appeared very well built. He wore a deep red uniform with black boots. A pair of white eyes peered through the holes of a metallic black helmet which framed the orange skin of his face.

As Professor Dementor reached the bottom of the stairs, he paused to check a pocket watch. 'Two minutes, forty-nine seconds.' he said with a clipped German accent. He turned to the largest henchman, who was standing with a salute at the base of the stairs. 'You are _slipping_, minion! That was a full ten seconds slower than our last raid!'

The henchman grimaced. 'Sorry sir.' he said. Though he felt miffed. Their last raids had been against civilian inventors and scientists. Neutralizing a fully manned _military_ base in less than three minutes was no small feat. But Professor Dementor had always been a very strict boss. The henchman thought for a moment that he might have been better off working for Dr. Drakken. He'd heard rumors that Drakken was more fun...

But Professor Dementor was striding past him towards a thick glass enclosure that contained what looked like glowing ingots of some kind of metal. 'I don't wish to hear your feeble excuses. Just move quickly before we fall even _further_ behind schedule!'

The henchman nodded to two of his fellows, who stood close by, and they nodded back, each lifting a pair of circular metallic clamps. They moved towards the enclosure and set to work.

Dementor allowed himself to smile as the henchmen began fastening the clamps to the glass. 'Ah!' he said, looking wistfully into the enclosure. 'Depleted trydiplatinum tungsten poly-alloy! A rare and curious metal - which will soon become the building materials for my own spring-stepping, self-healing, shield-raising, hand-thingy battle suit!' His voice rose to a fevered pitch and a crazed look came into his eyes. Then he seemed to catch himself, shaking his head rapidly. 'Now - activate ze sonic disruptors!'

The henchmen had fastened the clamps to all four sides of the enclosure. One of them fished a remote control from his hip pouch and hit a button with a piercing _beep_. The clamps whined and vibrated, sending pulses through the thick shield. Soon cracks began spreading through the glass. A few seconds more and the enclosure shattered, sending shards tumbling to the floor.

Immediately the henchmen stepped into the enclosure and began loading the metal ingots onto a hand truck. 'At last!' Dementor crowed. 'Ze trydiplatinum will be _mine_!'

The metal was loaded and the henchmen were staring to wheel it towards the stairs leading up into the hovership. But as they did so, they paused, hearing a strange sound. Even Dementor looked around in confusion. '_Vas ist das..._?' he said.

One of the henchmen scratched his head. 'Sounds like... _music_.' he said. And indeed, music seemed to be playing, but there were no speakers anywhere, and they could not tell where it was coming from.

Dementor's orange skin suddenly went cream colored. 'Oh _no_...' he said. 'I _know_ zat theme music!'

A large, muscular shape charged from the side, bowling over all three henchmen. They tumbled and rolled before slamming into a computer desk and lying in a groaning heap on the floor. The man who had tackled them grinned as he stood back up. 'Crash!' he said triumphantly.

Dementor winced and made for the hand truck. But before he could reach it, another shape darted from the side, seizing the hand truck and the trydiplatinum. Before Dementor could even blink, the metal was on the other side of the room beyond his reach. Another man turned around and flashed an arrogant smile at him. 'Dash!' he said.

'Minions!' Dementor shrieked. From doors leading to other parts of the lab, Dementor's remaining henchmen spilled into the room. They rushed at the two men, activating their shock prods.

As quick as sight, another shape sped in front of the line of henchmen, looping a wire around them all. He wrested a shock prod from one of them as he passed by, and then connected the wire to the prod. The line of henchmen yelped and squealed as the electric charge lit them all up like big, beefy Christmas trees. They twitched, shuddered and then collapsed onto the floor.

'Burn!' said the last man, joining his fellows as they confronted Dementor.

Professor Dementor's fists were twitching, his lip working in tics of rage. 'Team Impossible!' he spluttered. 'What are _you_ doing here? I thought Kim Possible forced you to join Global Justice and put you out of business!'

'You _wish_.' said Dash.

'We might have agreed to stop charging money for saving people after the fact.' said Crash.

'But that doesn't mean we can't charge money to people who _request_ our help.' said Burn. 'Turns out that has tax benefits too!'

Dementor seized a fire extinguisher from the wall, popped the safety pin and sprayed blasts of white foam onto his groaning henchmen, who sat up yelping. 'Stop them you fools!' he screamed. 'Zees is what I _pay_ you for!'

The henchmen rose up, and Team Impossible snapped into formation. _'Go, team!'_ they shouted.

If any of the soldiers in the base had been awake and passing by the research lab building, they might have thought that both a demolition derby and a fireworks display was being hosted inside. Windows rattled, there were yells, shouts and minor explosions. There was a soft grinding sound from the foundation as the entire building occasionally trembled. The lights flickered on and off several times during the larger tremors.

After several minutes, Professor Dementor looked on in dumb amazement as the last of his henchmen were thrown gracelessly onto the stairs of his hovercraft. Dash was dusting his hands. 'You may call yourself a professor, but you're not very _smart_!' he said.

'Or you'd have known better than to take on Team Impossible!' said Crash.

The stairs retracted, hauling Dementor and his henchmen back up into the hovership, and the evil Professor leaned over the railing, shaking his fist wildly. '_Curse you, Team Impossible_…!' he shrieked, his voice growing fainter as the ship sped away.

Soon the ship was out of sight. Each member of Team Impossible high-fived each other. 'Nice going team!' said Crash.

'We definitely _earned _our pay this time!' said Burn, pulling out a calculator and starting to tally up figures.

The door behind them opened and the base commander, along with a few soldiers, staggered into the lab, shaking their heads.

'What happened?' said the base commander, sounding groggy.

'It was Professor Dementor, sir.' said Dash with a respectful salute. 'He gassed the base and tried to make off with the top-secret metal from your labs.'

'You were smart to hire us on as additional protection.' said Crash. 'We've dealt with Dementor before!'

The base commander looked sharply at them. 'The trydiplatinum tungsten poly-alloy!' he said. 'Did they get it?'

'Relax, sir.' said Burn. 'Your metal is perfectly safe….' and he gestured towards the hand truck. But then he froze, gaping open-mouthed at what he saw.

Everyone else in the room followed his gaze. The hand truck was there, but the trydiplatinum was gone.

- o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

Dementor's hovership alighted into the massive hangar in his hidden lair. He descended first from the ramp, and then watched as his men disembarked, shuffling, limping and moaning as they staggered past him.

'Well done, Heinrich.' he said offhandedly as one passed by. 'Pinch your nose Johnson, stop bleeding on ze floor!' he said as another stumbled past. 'Put some ice on that lump, Reginald - well done everyone, report to ze infirmary for treatment, well done!'

One of the henchmen paused. 'You're sure you're not mad boss?' he said. 'I mean, we didn't even get what you was after…'

Dementor smiled jovially and slapped him on his sprained shoulder, making him wince in pain. 'Relax, Stossel! For once I actually _enjoyed_ watching you being knocked around like ze Bocce balls!'

'But the _stuff…_' said the henchman, shrugging.

'Ah yes, ze "_stuff_"!' said Dementor, checking his watch. 'It should be arriving soon.' He looked up, and from the huge circular hatchway in the roof of the hanger, there came a soft whirring sound. He chivvied the remaining henchmen to the doors leading into the base. 'Off with you now, off with you!' he said, and they filed out of the hanger, grumbling. When they were gone, he strode back to his hovership, looking up through the hatchway into the night sky.

A rippling distortion in the air descended, like patch of heat haze that was hardly to be seen, even in the brightly lit hangar. From the darkness above, it had been totally invisible. There was a humming, as of something mechanical being shut down, and Dementor smirked as a vehicle came into view.

It looked like a motorcycle, deep purple, with a pair of nacelles on either side. Sitting astride the bike were two figures, taking off their helmets. One was a teenaged boy with a head of spiked, auburn hair. The other was a girl with shoulder-length blonde hair. From the pack on her back, a brown furred weasel was poking out his head, sniffing the air. Both the boy and the girl were wearing black shirts and brown cargo pants with hip pouches on their belts.

'_Herr Probable_.' said Dementor with a nod. '_Frauline Fatigable_.'

'Professor Dementor,' said Grimm Probable, nodding. 'Quite a show you and your men put on back there - and the 'curse you'? Nice touch.'

Dementor stepped forward with an eager gleam in his eyes. 'I trust ze _show_ was enough to distract Team Impossible long enough for you to fulfill your end of the bargain?'

Grimm smirked and opened the rear trunk compartment of his bike. Gleaming inside were the stacked ingots of trydiplatinum. 'The power failures were all the opening we needed.' he said. 'They never even noticed.'

Dementor stepped up to the trunk. 'Victory rant, 2.0.' he said quietly, clearing his throat. Then he threw back his head and shouted at the top of his lungs. 'At _last_! Ze trydiplatinum tungsten poly alloy is _mine_!' Grimm and Rhonda heaved the trydiplatinum from the trunk to a nearby work bench while Dementor sent peals of wicked laughter ringing through the hangar. Rhonda was rolling her eyes.

When they had finished, Dementor had joined them at the work bench. He had hefted one of the ingots and was caressing it lovingly. 'You are _sure_ this is enough raw material to construct my own battle suit?' he said.

'Positive.' said Grimm.

'Und _how_ do you know this?'

'We've… got sources.' he replied cagily.

Dementor huffed. 'I suppose you gathered some information during that time you were working _with_ Kim Possible…' he said.

'Maybe.' said Grimm, but did not elaborate any further.

Dementor glared. 'No hints? No clues?'

Grimm shook his head. 'The deal was to bring you the tridyplatinum. It's up to you to figure out what to do with it.'

'Well, my analysis of Kim Possible's battle suit, coupled with my brilliant mind will soon unlock all its secrets!' Dementor crowed.

'Then all that's left is our fee.' said Grimm. 'Half at the start of the job, the rest on successful completion.'

Dementor winced, but reached into his vest and took out a thick pouch. He looked at it wistfully before handing over to Grimm, who passed it immediately to Rhonda. Rhonda opened the pouch and started running her communicator over the bundles of cash inside. 'I still maintain zat your prices are too high,' said Dementor. 'I might hire you more often if you were more affordable.'

'Inflation is what it is.' said Grimm shrugging. 'When you go cheap, you get what you pay for.'

Dementor sniffed, but turned his attention back to the tridyplatinum, picking up another one of the bars and running a hand over it. Rhonda's communicator beeped.

'Clean.' she said, and Grimm nodded.

'We'll be on our way then, Professor.' Grimm said with a nod. 'And remember, just pay enough money and we can do anything!'

- o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

The _Ksikkihkíni_ soared through the night sky, zooming back towards the secret city of Riddleton. 'Another job well done!' said Grimm. Despite his declaration that the job was over, his voice sounded eager to Rhonda, almost like he did when he was _anticipating_ a particularly challenging job.

'Well done?' she said. 'We zipped in when the lights are off, then zipped out. We didn't do much.'

'I know!' said Grimm, and he sounded delighted. 'I keep saying, those are the best kinds of jobs. The ones where people wonder if you even did anything!'

Rhonda felt herself sighing. She'd heard Grimm say that lots of times before, and it still didn't make sense to her.

The rest of the trip home passed mostly in silence except for Grimm's occasional spontaneous whoops. Eventually they were soaring over Riddleton, the lights of the houses and buildings sparkling below them like a dark blanket studded with glowing beads. Soon they were descending towards the familiar silhouette of Grimm's house, the driveway pale and grey in the light of the street lamps.

They touched down, and Grimm leaped from the bike, flipped out his communicator and said, 'Jade - we're back.'

A girl with an Asian complexion leaned her face onto the screen. Jade earrings dangled from each lobe, and her hair was pulled into two pony-tails that were streaked with rainbow colors on each side. Jade's voice came tinny and piercing through the speaker in the still night air. 'Yo G-man! You guys are done kind of early, aren't you?'

'This one was a cakewalk.' said Grimm, shrugging but smiling as Rhonda slid off the bike and stretched her stiff back. 'Almost _too_ easy. We'll be splitting the take tomorrow once the banks are open.'

'Spankin.' said Jade dismissively. 'Now - Dementor _knows_ about the... technical issues he'll be running into once he starts making that suit, right?'

Grimm smirked. 'If he doesn't, he will soon enough. Wouldn't have done any good to warn him though. He was in full 'my brilliant mind' mode, and he won't believe that he can't puzzle things out on his own.'

Jade was smirking too. 'At least not until he hits some of the walls we've run into.' she said.

Grimm nodded. 'And when he does, he'll probably be in touch. Keep him dangling with a tidbit or two, just enough to get him to ask for your help.'

'Then double charge him?' Jade grinned.

'Depending on how snooty he is about the whole thing, yeah.' said Grimm.

'Gotcha.' Jade said. 'G-man, you so _cold_!' Then the screen burst with static and went black.

Grimm's smirk seemed frozen in place as he pocketed the communicator and turned to Rhonda, giving her a firm hug and kissing her full on the lips. Rhonda returned his embrace and the kiss went on for nearly half a minute before a pair of voices sounded from an open window on the second floor of the house.

_'Mmmmm - mwah mwah mwah!'_

Grimm broke off and turned towards the house. '_Shut_ _up_, twisters!' he shouted. But Lynn and Mim's voices simply giggled from the unseen depths of their room.

'I should probably go anyway.' said Rhonda, looking sheepish. 'I mean, Ms. Darken's homework isn't gonna do _itself_ you know.'

Grimm gave her a sly look. 'Come on,' he said. 'You're mostly caught up...'

'Not if Indy's hidden it in the ductwork like he did last week.' said Rhonda with a grimace. 'And he's started writing little 'treasure maps' to see if I can find them on my own...'

Grimm nodded with a small chuckle. 'He's getting smarter. I think someday he'll make a great field investigator for the team...' His communicator sounded a familiar four-note beep and he fished it from his hip pouch smoothly. 'What's up, Jade?'

'A couple more jobs upcoming.' Jade's voice answered.

'Forward the details to my email, I'll look them over before I go to sleep.' he said.

'Yo!' Jade said, and the screen blipped off again.

Rhonda felt a tightness in her stomach. _'More_ jobs?' she said.

Grimm didn't seem to catch her weary tone. 'More jobs means more money.' he said, and the eager sound was back in his voice. 'At this rate, we can think about an easy retirement before we've even graduated!'

Rhonda sighed. 'I'll... rest up then.' she said.

This time, Grimm did a double take. 'Something wrong, babe?'

Rhonda dug at the driveway with her shoe. 'I donno.' she said. 'I mean, sure the last few capers have been great. But ever since that fight with Monkey Fist at Yamanouchi, it just feels like... something's _missing_.'

Grimm looked like he was thinking. 'Not sure what.' he said at last. 'The clients, the jobs, the thrill, the payoff, it's all been there.'

Rhonda thought about trying to explain it more, but she wasn't sure of what she was feeling, or how to express it. 'I guess I was just looking forward to a vacation after that business with Monkey Fist.' she said, taking the easy out.

Grimm chuckled. 'Fat chance.' he said. 'The world's villains took a hit along with everyone else when Monkey Fist and Maze launched their golem scheme. Tons of them are looking for jobs to be done, either to fix up their infrastructure, or launch a plan of their own to prove they can out-do Monkey Fist. It's kept the money just rolling in. Not only that, we've kept things so under the radar that Possible and her crew haven't even noticed. _Rockin'!_'

Rhonda smiled indulgently, but had to wince through it. Ever since they'd gotten home safe, there had been an almost non-stop slew of jobs from various clients. After all that they'd been through, she had thought that Grimm might want a break as much as she did. To her surprise, he had been all to eager to leap back into action. Though as he put his arms around her and held her, she relaxed a bit.

'Don't worry babe,' he said. 'There'll probably be a lull sooner or later. In the meantime, get a good night sleep.' He gave her another kiss. 'See you tomorrow.' he said softly.

Rhonda smiled and nodded, and was soon swallowed up in the evening shadows as she took the sidewalk towards her house.

- o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

Grimm weaved from room to room after going inside his own house, heading towards the entrance to the basement. His sisters Lynn and Mim were still making exaggerated kissy-faces at him from the living room doorway, but they darted out of sight as he took an absent-minded swipe at them.

His mother's voice came muffled from the kitchen. 'No hitting, Grimm!' she said. 'And Lynn, Mim - stop teasing!'

Grimm moved on, marveling at how his mother somehow always knew what they were doing, even on the other side of the house. As he passed by the den, a deeper voice sounded. 'Back early, boy?'

He paused at the doorway. Inside, the den was brightly lit, but it seemed dimmer since the walls were paneled with dark wood with a deep burgundy carpet. Wood bookshelves lined the room, surrounding a large desk. Mr. Probable was seated there, wearing his usual grey suit and unimaginative necktie. 'Yes, sir.' said Grimm with a nod. Years of his father working at the DOD had built the habit in him of treating him somewhat like a soldier addressing a superior officer.

Mr. Probable had a somewhat stern expression. 'This one stirred up a hornet's nest, boy.' he said. 'Helping Dementor raid a _military_ base? There's already calls for an inquiry.'

Grimm held back his smirk with effort. 'If nothing else, we've shown the Army all the holes in their base defenses that need shoring up.' Mr. Probable glared, and Grimm quickly held up his hand. 'I wouldn't worry about Dementor. He'll try using the metal to make his own battle-suit, but because of the intel we gave you on mine, the Army's already prepared. He's got nothing that you don't know about already. And once I pass on the intel we're bound to get from Dementor, your guys will have a whole new set of notes for their research. Besides, the Army had no idea what to do with the stuff. It was gathering dust in that base for nearly eight years.'

Mr. Probable grunted. 'Fair point.' he said. 'Carry on, boy. But tread carefully - if either side gets wind of this, it'll be _your_ hide on a platter.'

'Yes _sir_.' Grimm answered, and he nodded respectfully before moving on. He reached the door leading to the basement, and thumped his way down the stairs. He didn't bother turning on the lights, he knew the way so well he didn't need to see.

He reached out in the dark and felt the doorknob as his fingers closed around it. A moment later, he was turning on the light and making a bee-line for his computer. The room around him was large, but the dimness, combined with the boxy concrete walls, made it seem more confining somehow. There was a bed, a table in the middle of the room, a couple of bookshelves against the walls, and the computer desk in the far corner. One of the walls had an accordion door on it, leading into a recessed closet.

Another wall was covered with corkboard, and pinned to the cork was a jumble of photographs. Each photo showed a hero - Team Go, Team Impossible, Global Justice members and Kim Possible, each in some state of anger or embarrassment, and a number of the pictures had darts stuck into them. In a corner nearby was a jumble of sports equipment and martial arts gear.

Grimm checked his email quickly. The jobs Jade had mentioned were there. _'Motor Ed wants some more auto parts boosted from NASCAR's top secret facility.'_ he thought, _'And Duff Killigan wants us to look at... his lawn? These are jobs?'_ He looked them over and shrugged. _'Well, a buck is a buck.'_

He forwarded some info to Jade to make the arrangements, then shut the computer down. He knew it was late, but he still felt wired. He stood looking towards the ceiling at the basement window which looked up into the lawn. He stared at the stars of the night sky, feeling oddly at peace.

The sitch with Monkey Fist and Maze had been the most annoying, gut-wrenching thing he'd ever had to endure. A full month without Rhonda, while she was trapped in the Spirit World. And most of that time was spent having to put up with Kim Possible and her insufferable posse of goody-two-shoes friends.

But after they had rescued Rhonda, he'd felt an amazing sense of relief. And once the Senior Prom was over and Possible and her crew were gone for good, he'd felt even better. And the reason why he'd jumped straight back into work was because having Rhonda back, having the team properly assembled, had been like sinking into a comfortable sofa. It just felt _right_ having her there again, to have things back to the way they were supposed to be. Him, Rhonda, Rueful and Jade - Team Probable. On missions, under the radar, making the good guys' lives miserable without them even knowing it. And it was in that frame of mind that he closed things down for the night and got ready to sleep.

_'We've got it going on.'_ he thought, _'If I could freeze everything just the way it is now, I'd do it.' _While he didn't realize it, his smirk had softened into a smile as he turned out the lights and clambered into bed. _'I hope things never change again.'_

_- o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o_

Rhonda walked home slowly. Her feeling of general unease hadn't left her. The warm fuzzies of Grimm's good night kiss had worn off, leaving her alone with her confused thoughts.

She hadn't wanted to lie to Grimm. The truth was, between her own efforts and Grimm's help, she was nearly caught up with _all_ the homework that Ms. Darken had given her after she came back. But she didn't really feel like talking mission shop anymore that night, and that was all Grimm had really seemed interested in.

She paused at the front door, and decided she didn't really feel like dealing with Indy at the moment either. Instead, she found herself sneaking into the backyard and going to her nature spot. Grimm kept calling it her _sanctorum_ (_why did guys always want to give complicated names to things_?), but to her, it was just a place where she could sit and think in peace. When Grimm had been helping her train to tap into the power of the Great Bear Spirit, he had kept her here meditating for hours at a stretch, no matter how girlishly she whined about it. She'd hated Kamp Kwitcherbeliakin, and associated the pain of her experiences there with anything even remotely 'outdoorsy'. So she'd avoided the outdoors most of the time after she'd gotten back from summer camp as a child.

But her constant meditations in the nature spot during her training had helped her develop almost a fondness for this particular sheltered grove, tucked quietly away on the edge of her unfenced backyard. She sat down and took out a lighter, quickly making a small blaze in the fire pit at the center of the grove. _'Friction fire?'_ she thought. _'I don't think so! Not after thousands of years of evolution!'_

She sat down on a patch of dead leaves she had gathered over the months. The leaves were softer than a tree stump, and cleaner than sitting in the dirt. She closed her eyes and let her mind drift. But before she had even been there a full minute, she heard pattering rustles all around her. She smiled faintly and opened her eyes. 'Hi guys!' she chirped.

Surrounding her was a scruffy assortment of weasels, a raccoon or two, and a few rabbits. They all chittered or thumped their feet eagerly.

This had been another unintended consequence of her training in this one location all the time. It meant most of the small animals in the vicinity had been drawn to her. During the day it was usually songbirds, squirrels and chipmunks. But after sundown, the nocturnal animals took over. It had startled her at first to have them turn up just to hang out with her, like the animals had back at Kamp Kwitcherbeliakin. But since they kept showing up each time she meditated, she'd gotten familiar with most of them.

All of them were staring at her expectantly. From his perch on her shoulder, Rueful chittered and jabbed towards her hip pouch. Rhonda caught on. Her hip pouch was where she kept some of her mission gear, and her MP3 player. She smiled faintly. Some people sang their favorite songs in the shower. She sang in the woods. And ever since her experience at Kamp Kwitcherbeliakin, animals turned up to join the show.

But tonight she shook her head. 'Nah, I'm not really in a jamming mood right now, fellas.' she said. 'I'm... trying to figure a few things out.'

The weasels all tilted their heads in unison, looking so forlorn that Rhonda sighed. 'All right, _fine_.' She said, and fished her communicator out, going to the music player app. 'I'll turn on the radio, but _no singing_, got it?' The weasels capered and scampered, looking excited.

Rhonda set the player to stream from one of her music stations. With a jolt, she heard a familiar voice singing brightly.

_When you find your world is caving in,  
>you can bet you'll need a friend,<br>someone to take those fears awaaaay!_

_ Say the word!  
>Make a call and I'll be there!<br>Anytime, anywhere, have you heard?  
>That I'm all about saving your...<em>

Rhonda twisted and grabbed the communicator, rapidly scrambling to find another station. 'Rrrrrr!' she snarled, slamming it back down. 'Stupid pom-pon with her stupid, _perky_...' But she paused when she saw the animals looking at her in confusion. 'Sorry guys.' she said sheepishly. 'I mean it's just... I came here to step away from work for a while, you know? Don't mind me, just... carry on.'

The assorted animals seemed to shrug, then they started gamboling around while listening to the music channel that Rhonda had turned to.

But hearing Kim Possible's voice had turned her mind away from the solitude she had sought, and set it thinking once again about the events that had happened a few weeks ago. Try as she might, she found the memories like leaves in a whirlwind around her, brushing softly against her, impossible to ignore.

The fear and the darkness after being banished by Maze. Stuck in the Spirit World with Ron Stoppable. And the tremendous fight at Yamanouchi where she teamed up with Kim to take down Monkey Fist. And her memory followed that trail of events until the end of the battle, when it was all over, and the Yamanouchi students and Maze's former golem victims had broken out in joyous celebration.

_Rhonda stood in the midst of a cheering throng in the courtyard of the Yamanouchi School. Monkey Fist stood petrified and defeated. When doing mercenary work with Grimm, Rhonda had gotten into a habit of trying to hide as soon as they were done. 'Move fast,' Grimm always said. 'Move silently, and leave no trace that you were ever there.' Every time she and Grimm finished a mission, it was like a race to see which of them could blend into the shadows and disappear fastest. And of course, Grimm always won._

_ And so after Monkey Fist was defeated, she had instinctively started edging towards the nearest intact building, looking for an open door to slip through. But there was too much celebration, too many people cheering, jostling and even hugging._

_ Most of the back-slapping and adulation was centered around Kim, who looked totally used to it. But before Rhonda could get even part way through the crowd, she found a pair of old arms being thrown around her. An elderly woman with a cane was hugging her, and Rhonda heard a creaky voice._

_ 'I saw you take on that brute, my dear.' she said. 'You were so brave. Thank you... thank you.'_

_ As quickly as it had started, it was over. The old woman had let her go and had vanished amid the other people around them. And Rhonda stood there, dumbfounded. The noise, the bustle, everything around her seemed to fade. She was patted on the back by a few more people, but she hardly noticed. To have been thanked and hugged like that was unlike anything she had ever experienced in all her time helping Grimm. It had felt... warm... nice..._

Her mind snapped back to herself. The animals around her were still frolicking. The weasels had formed a kind of line dance to the song that was playing, and she was tapping her finger in time to it as well, not so much hearing the music as she was hearing the words being sung.

_If you need a friend,  
>don't look to a stranger,<br>You know in the end,  
>I'll always be there...<em>

_And when you're in doubt,  
>and when you're in danger,<br>Take a look all around,  
>and I'll be there...<em>

And things clicked in her mind. The feeling that was missing from the missions she'd been working with Grimm. What had been missing was that _nice_ feeling she'd had after... she struggled to dredge up the word. After... _helping_ people.

And suddenly she wasn't feeling _tired_ of the mercenary work at all. On the contrary, she realized she'd been feeling pent-up because she wanted to do _more_ mercenary style work, but to have it involve... _helping_ people? Not trolling for money, or helping some crazy pug-ugly take over the world. She wanted to just _help_ someone who needed it - without having to worry about collecting a reward, or running from the cops.

The stillness of the evening air suddenly seemed to be tingling with energy. Slowly she got to her feet. The assembled weasels and small animals paused. They were used to Rhonda leading in the singing and grooving, and whined in disappointment when she turned off her music player.

'Sorry to end the rave early.' she said. 'But... how would you guys like to help me do something that may be even _more_ exciting?'

There was a chorus of enthusiastic thumping and chitters from the animals. 'Then spread the word to all your buddies to meet me here tomorrow night.' she said. 'Cause we're gonna do something bold, and daring and _cool_.'

She bent down and spoke to Rueful and the assembled animals in a barely audible whisper. 'We're... _steppin' out_!'

Coming Soon:

Chapter 2  
>Poxorza the Liberatrix<p>

_Author: Sorry again about the LONG delay between chapters. I fear my RL 'looking for work' sitch is slowing things down, as I feared it would. And it's not over yet, so that means probably another long stretch between postings. But don't give up on the story, because it's shaping up fairly well._

_ I was glad to use Team Impossible in this chapter. TI got fairly short shrift in the TV show, and I felt they deserved another appearance. They were very competent of course, and in real life I doubt a team that accomplished would just pack it in because a teenage girl threatened them. But they seemed a decent bunch all in all, so I had them keep the promise by working around it a little. And of course, Dementor is just too funny NOT to use._

_ I always intended to have Rhonda 'evolve' a little as a character, just like Ron did in Graduation. In Rhonda's case - how will her evolution play out? And what will it mean when the coming storm breaks? And most dramatic - what will her boyfriend think of it all? You knew I wouldn't just jump straight to the firestorms, right?_


	3. Chapter 2 - Poxorza the Liberatrix

All Things Probable IV

Graduation

Chapter 2

Poxorza the Liberatrix

_Briiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnng!_

The bell rang shrill across the grounds of Riddleton High. The students who had been loitering outside started filing glumly into the school. There was a clanging of locker doors, a babble of talk, and a bustle of motion as students and teachers flowed through the halls like a depressed river.

But Rhonda Fatigable felt like a rubber band about to snap. She had planned out what she was going to do that night. But planning it out hadn't calmed her nerves, it was quite the reverse. She'd never really done anything like this behind Grimm's back before. She couldn't really remember doing _anything _without Grimm being there. And now she was not only planning a jaunt without him, but actively plotting to keep him from discovering it.

She was biting her lip every few minutes. Grimm was a careful planner himself, and a keen observer, and also cautious to the point of paranoia. Hiding things from him wasn't going to be easy, and there were so many things that could go wrong. She kept ticking off potential disasters in her mind. Maybe Grimm would schedule a mission for that night. She might get caught while secret-borrowing the mission gear, or Jade would spot her with the gazillions of cameras she was wired into...

'Hey babe - all rested up?'

Rhonda jumped in shock. Grimm had come up from behind while she was fretting and kissed her on the cheek. 'Yes!' she said, gasping. 'And I'm definitely _not_ planning to do anything behind your back, if that's what you're accusing me of!'

Grimm looked at her with a raised eyebrow. 'Uh... yeah.' he said. 'Glad to know it.' At that moment, there was a loud, four-note beep from his locker and he quickly moved to dial the combination lock. Rhonda took the opportunity of his turning away to whip out a paper bag from her backpack and hyperventilate.

'What's the sitch, Jade?' said Grimm, peering in at the computer monitor and communication deck that he had set up inside the locker.

Jade's face was leaned in close to the screen, a few strands of hair from the ponytail on top of her head spilling over her eyebrows. 'Got Killigan on line one, G-man.' she said.

Grimm checked his watch, then nodded. 'Put him through.'

The beefy, bearded face of Duff Killigan replaced Jade on the screen. 'Probable!' he said in his thick Scottish accent. 'What's the hold-up, laddie?'

'Top of the morning to you too, Killigan.' said Grimm in a mildly jovial voice.

Killigan grimaced. 'I have na' got time for pleasantries, Probable!' he said. 'Ah contacted yer hacker last night with a job offer - why're ye not _here_ doin' it?'

Grimm sighed. 'Because I wanted to talk to you face to face and confirm this.' he answered. 'Jade said you wanted us to inspect your _lawn_. Is that right?'

'Aye!' said Duff. 'An' less'n ye're too _busy_, I'd like y'here double sharp!'

Rhonda was grateful for the distraction, and looked at Grimm, who seemed to be trying to come up with a diplomatic way to blow Killigan off. 'Thing is,' said Grimm slowly, 'It sounds like you should be talking to a landscaper, not us. Aren't there any groundskeepers in Scotland for hire?'

Killigan rolled his eyes on the monitor screen. 'A _Scottish_ groundskeeper?' he said. 'Who e'er heard of a _Scottish_ groundskeeper?' Rhonda clucked her tongue. Grimm's face remained deadpan. 'Anyhoo, ah doubt any _groundskeeper_ would know how to handle a job like this.' Killigan went on. 'It's not brown patches or anthills I'm dealin' with - it's large scale herbicide!'

Grimm's eyebrows knitted a little closer, which Rhonda knew was a sign of growing curiosity. 'Vandals?' he said. 'You're on an _island_. I thought your castle grounds were secure. How'd they get in?'

Killigan's face reddened. 'If ah knew _that_, I'd have gone after 'em myself! I would na' need _you_ to come an' find oot!'

Rhonda leaned her head in, blinking. '_Oot_?' she said.

Killigan gritted his teeth. 'Oot!' he shouted. '_Oot!_ The opposite of in!'

Grimm nodded. 'All right, Team Probable is on the case.' he said. 'But I'm afraid tomorrow is the soonest we can get out there. And in the meantime, I suggest setting a few more traps out on the grounds. Good enough?'

Killigan, as always, looked angry. But he nodded. 'Aye.' he said, shaking a hammy fist. 'But no later - or I'll gie ye a skelpit lug!' Then the screen burst into static and Jade's face was back.

'How about it, Jade?' said Grimm. 'Not that I'd turn down easy money, but should we just refer him to that Willie guy from Glascow?'

Jade was typing fast. 'He sent some pics of the grounds...' she said, and the screen flashed through some images of the lawn of Killigan's castle grounds. There were mounds with golf flags planted throughout, and most of it was a beautiful, lush green, the soft pleasing green that grass usually had after a rainstorm. But there were vast swaths of the grounds where the grass was charred black and looked totally dead. 'If it _was_ vandals, they went to a lot of effort.' Jade said. 'From what I can see, at least twenty acres have been destroyed. And all in one night, from what he said in his email.'

Grimm kept cycling through the pictures, each showing ground level views of the lawn with huge sections burned to cinders. 'Killigan's no slouch when it comes to protecting his manor...' he mumbled. 'He said he didn't hear anything either... That's weird...' Finally he shrugged. 'Well, we'll look into it tomorrow. Set it up for after school, Jade.'

'Gotcha, G-man.' Jade answered. 'Say hi to Ms. Darken!' and the screen went black.

Rhonda was racing through her schedule in her mind, comparing it with what Grimm just said. So far as she could tell, there was nothing on her plate now that might interfere with her plan. But she had to make sure. 'So... no mission tonight?' she said, cautiously.

Grimm was checking his communicator. 'Nope.' he said.

'Why didn't you schedule Killigan for today?' she said. 'It wouldn't take much to get a boost overseas, then bike over on the Eagle.' she said.

Grimm shrugged. 'Because I _listen_ to my peeps.' he said. 'You said last night you wanted a break. Consider tonight a freebie.'

Rhonda felt a wash of relief. 'Thanks, Grimm.' she said warmly, laying her hand on his shoulder and running it down his arm.

He didn't resist, but his eyes darted left and right. 'Don't go all _schmaltzy_ on me...' he said quietly. 'And remember, Darken is on the prowl...' But his voice trailed off as she slowly leaned her head closer to his for a kiss.

_'Probable! Fatigable!'_

They both drew back in alarm, and Grimm had one moment to think, _'I need to take stealth lessons from her someday...'_

They turned and saw the visage of Ms. Darken looming above them, built like an American Gladiator, her blonde hair wound in a tight bun. Dressed in an outfit, of which many students whispered she had a hundred duplicates in her closet, she glared wrathfully at the two students. '_What_... is my policy regarding public displays of affection?' she hissed.

Grimm sighed, and Rhonda squeaked. 'Not allowed.'

Ms. Darken's eyes narrowed. 'Then... _what_ do you think you're doing?'

Both of them chanted dully. 'Going to class.'

Ms. Darken's lips barely parted over her gritted teeth. 'See that you do.' she said. 'I will _know_ otherwise.' Then she pivoted and strode down the hall.

Even though Ms. Darken passed out of sight, they didn't dare try to kiss again. 'All that aside,' said Grimm, maintaining his distance, 'Did you want me to... help with your homework tonight?'

The thought of spending an hour or two reading books on the sofa at home with Grimm right next to her made her blush warmly, but she had a plan to carry out. 'Sorry, Grimm.' she said, trying her best to sound regretful. 'I wasn't kidding when I said I could use a night off. Between the missions, and extra homework, and Indy... I just want to turn in early for one night.'

She saw a disappointed look on Grimm's face. 'Just one evening and I'll be right as rain.' she said. 'I promise.'

Grimm managed a faint smile. 'Yeah... 'me time'. I get that.'

'See you at lunch.' she said, moving one step closer to him.

But he stepped back with a wary glance over his shoulder. 'Uh uh. Better head to class.' he said. 'We don't want to give the Romance Assassin any excuses...'

Rhonda blew a stray hair aside from her forehead. 'I donno...' She said. 'I've been wondering about her for a while. I mean, she's got a _killer_ bod, and it must take a lot of work. When a girl puts in that much effort, they're usually trying to impress someone.'

'_Killer bod_?' Grimm winced. 'Can we not talk about Ms. Darken like she's... _human_?' he said.

'What? You don't think she's human?' Rhonda said.

'No.' said Grimm, moving off down the hall. 'I think she's some kind of alien cyborg...'

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

Rhonda was prepared to sacrifice attention to the schoolwork in favor of worrying over what might happen later that night, but flinched as Ms. Darken came in just before the start of the bell.

'Ms. Olga Nique suffered a nervous breakdown after seeing a spider in the shower this morning.' Said Ms. Darken without fanfare. 'So I will be substitute teaching your biology class today.'

Rhonda sank into her chair. 'Darkened _again_...' she groaned inwardly. And so she was obliged to focus on the class material, given that Ms. Darken had a shrewd penchant for calling on her to answer questions the moment her mind began to wander. Somehow she made it through class, and when the bell rang, she moved quickly to gather her things. Just as she was getting ready to make for the door, she heard Ms. Darken's voice barking out.

'Ms. Fatigable - a word, if you please.'

Rhonda frantically started going through lists in her mind of what she might have done to tick Ms. Darken off, but was coming up blank. So she approached the desk warily. 'Uh... yes?' she said, timidly.

Ms. Darken started at her. 'You do know that graduation is coming soon, don't you?'

'Yes!' Rhonda moaned. 'You've been telling me every day for weeks! I promise I'll be ready - I've caught up with all my homework and everything...'

'Graduation isn't just about being ready for graduation.' said Ms. Darken. 'Graduation is about getting ready for what happens _after_ graduation.'

'I... uh... _whuh_?' said Rhonda, glancing over her shoulder to Rueful. Rueful shrugged.

Ms. Darken sighed. 'You're a non-conformist punk, Fatigable.' she said wearily.

Rhonda felt a twinge of annoyance. She'd been called that, and far worse, by Ms. Darken over the course of her High School days. But to hold her captive after class to do it? 'Hey, if you just want to insult me, there's plenty of students out in the halls who do that already!' she said.

_'Listen_ to me for once, Fatigable.' said Ms. Darken, grimacing with impatience. 'What I mean to say is, graduation is simply a _ceremony_. It's what you do with your life _after_ graduation that you should really be trying to get ready for.'

Rhonda blinked as Ms. Darken went on. She wasn't doing her usual bellowing. She sounded somehow more mellow and serious. 'I've been tough on you, because I think there's more potential in you than in many of the other students...'

It sounded like a compliment, which made Rhonda suspicious. 'What - seriously?'

'Yes.' Ms. Darken answered, and there was no sarcasm or joking in her voice that Rhonda could tell. 'There's something within you, Ms. Fatigable. I can't explain it, but for a while now you've seemed... _better_ than what you've settled for so far.'

Rhonda was confused, not sure what that meant. 'It's kinda late in the term to try for straight As...' she said.

'I'm not talking about _grades_, Ms. Fatigable. I'm talking about the little web site business Probable has running.' Ms. Darken leaned over the desk and looked Rhonda straight in the eyes. 'I know you spend a lot of time helping him with that venture. Now that graduation is close, I think you might better spend your time developing your _own_ path in life, rather than simply following Probable around wherever he goes. Once High School is over, things will change for you very rapidly I think.'

Rhonda felt somehow colder on hearing those words. 'What are you saying?' she said. 'You want me to _dump_ Grimm?'

Ms. Darken rolled her eyes. 'Of course not.' she said. 'I'm only saying - you should consider _other_ possibilities in life beyond just being Probable's gofer.'

Rhonda paused a moment. 'Well...' she said. 'I was actually planning an... _independent_ thing to try out tonight.'

Ms. Darken gave a curt nod. 'Very good.' she said. 'I encourage you to do so. You may go.' And Rhonda quickly fled the room before Ms. Darken could start shouting.

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

School ended for the day, and gym practice was over. Grimm rolled his eyes whenever he attended gym practice the last few weeks. This close to graduation, there were no more competitions and the season was effectively over. So it made no sense to him that Donnie insisted on regular practice after school. Then he always remembered that to Donnie, it was all a power trip, so in that context it made perfect sense.

He waited outside the school for Rhonda to finish with the chess team, and soon he saw her exiting the building with Felicia. They were chatting and smiling until Felicia's eyes fell on Grimm. Then she smirked and winked, sliding off to the side, and waving good-bye to Rhonda with the gleaming fingers of her advanced prosthetic arm. Grimm fought to keep the blush out of his cheeks as Rhonda bounded down the steps to him and Felicia continued to wink at them while backing up the stairs.

Grimm sighed as Rhonda climbed onto the bike behind him. 'Tell Felicia to stop looking so smug.' he said. 'It's annoying.'

Rhonda shrugged, then put her hands around her mouth and shouted. '_Grimm says to stop looking so smug!'_ And Felicia signed 'OK' before disappearing back into the school.

'I didn't mean _now_.' Grimm muttered as they moved down the street. Once he'd driven her home on the _Ksikkihkíni_, he escorted her to the door and they shared a brief kiss. 'I'll pick you up tomorrow morning.' he said. 'Have fun.'

Something about his voice seemed down. 'You're _sure_ you're OK with this?' said Rhonda.

'Don't worry.' said Grimm, heading back to the _Ksikkihkíni_. 'I can cope with Team Probable having _one_ night off.'

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

Five minutes later, Grimm was pacing back and forth in his room, glancing every few minutes outside the window. He instinctively kept reaching for his communicator, itching to set up an early visit to Killigan's. He tried studying a few chapters ahead in his school books, but he couldn't concentrate. He tried web surfing idly, but the drabble he saw on utube set his eyes rolling until he couldn't stand it anymore. _'This is what people think is entertaining?'_ he thought, before finally turning off the monitor.

He looked over at his martial arts gear and exercise clothes, piled and draped in the corner of the room. But he knew he couldn't fool himself that a session in the training yard would cure his restlessness. If anything, it would only whet his appetite for a real mission. He sat down at the table in the middle of the room absent-mindedly, but found with a shock that he was looking down at his communicator again. Almost as if watching someone else, he saw his right hand inch towards the device. He sent his left hand to intercept, fighting the impulse to call Rhonda, or Jade. He gritted his teeth, glancing at his clock radio.

_'Eight minutes? That's it?'_ he thought in disbelief. _'Time really is relative.'_ His right and left hand continued to duel, reaching for, or blocking, the communicator. _'Don't do it...' _he thought. _'I promised Rhonda her 'me time'...'_

Then it clicked in his mind. _'If Rhonda can do what she wants with her me time... so can I!'_ Immediately, his left hand surrendered, leaving his right hand free to grab the communicator. A quick dial, then a few beeps, and he heard a gruff, raspy voice.

'Yo - Motor Ed here! Who's callin'?' Visual link was established, and Grimm saw the mulleted, blonde head of Motor Ed on the communicator screen, with his facial stubble and grungy clothes.

'Ed - it's GP.' said Grimm. He kept the visual one way only, out of habit when talking to clients, so he could see them, but they couldn't see him. He called it prudent. Rhonda called it 'paranoid'.

Motor Ed's face brightened. 'Yo - Probable dude! How's it hangin?'

Grimm winced at Ed saying his name over the wire. 'Ixnay on the amenay.' he said.

Motor Ed scratched his head, his brow furrowed. 'Huh?'

Grimm sighed, and plowed on quickly. 'Never mind. Look, I know I said I couldn't do that job for a couple of days - but how would you feel about having it done_ tonight_?'

A wicked look sprang up on Ed's face. 'Seriously?' he said.

'_Seriously_!' said Grimm with a smirk.

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

Rhonda had quickly tended to her homework, and even gotten Indy occupied by giving him a Ruberik's Cube puzzle. She had simply pointed to it and said, 'Treasure puzzle!', and Indy had pounced on it eagerly.

Once it was darker, she had sneaked out of the house, making her way to Grimm's. She'd made up her mind to use the battle-suit. It wasn't well known, it offered a lot of protection, and had the stealth mode to boot. All in all, it would be a great disguise for her first crime-fighting adventure.

It was just as Grimm's house loomed into view that she realized the flaw in her idea. Grimm was home, probably in his room, and that was where the battle-suit was. She wound up hiding in the bushes in one of the wooded areas between the front yards of the houses across the street. For a long time, she stared at Grimm's house, wondering what to do. She'd schemed successfully to have a night off, and in so doing, she had effectively blocked herself from getting the equipment she needed. As the light continued to dim and night fell, she could see a light in the basement window which marked where Grimm's room was.

Kiping the suit without Grimm in the house would have been tough. With him right there in the room, it was impossible. She sat and thought until her backside started hurting from unseen pebbles beneath the grass, and the twigs and leaves of the bushes around her felt like they were boring into her skin.

She was just about to give up and leave without the suit, when she saw the garage door open. To her surprise, she saw Grimm wheeling out the _Ksikkihkíni_. He was wearing a biker outfit, and he glanced around quickly. Then he put on a helmet, mounted the bike, and it silently whirred out of the driveway and down the street. Rhonda's mouth fell open in shock as the wings of the bike unfolded. It shot into the air, banked sharply, and disappeared over a line of trees.

She sat there agape, spluttering for several seconds. _'He... ditched me?' _she thought. _'He went on a mission behind my back without saying anything? How could he...'_ But she did a facepalm when she remembered that was exactly what she would be doing as well. Then she sniffed in anger. _'Hey, I don't have to justify myself, I'm a girl! Only guys are guilty, thank you Oprah!'_

And she calmed down again once she realized that this was another unexpected gift. Grimm had left, and the way to the battle suit was wide open - nearly.

She had been in Grimm's room more times than she could count. Planning for missions, usually. But then she'd always been invited. Now she was trying to _break in_ without anyone seeing. She crept in through the side entrance of the garage, then slowly and gingerly slid into the house. A few moments in the side hall told her that the rest of the Probable family was still cleaning up after dinner. She heard Mim and Lynn's voices complaining, and the clinking of dishes being scrubbed. Quickly, Rhonda zipped through the hallway to the door leading down into the basement.

Grimm's sisters broke into his room all the time, but she couldn't ask them for help. Fortunately, she knew how to pick the lock of the door into his basement room. Somehow his room seemed strange without him there, but she was so afraid of being caught that she only pondered it for a brief second. Then she was rummaging in his closet. Folded over a hanger was the suit. The boots were on the floor with the gloves stuffed inside...

Rueful prowled in Rhonda's sanctorum. She had insisted he remain here to organize any animals who wanted to come on the night's venture. There were several weasels, a pair of owls, and a squirrel or two. The long-tailed weasel was anxious for the return of his mistress, and his head kept darting from side to side.

Suddenly, Rhonda appeared out of nowhere. 'Hey Rueful, I'm back!' she chirped. And Rueful squealed, jumping nearly three feet. Rhonda grinned. After donning the suit and figuring out how to turn on the stealth mode, she had made short work of escaping from Grimm's house unseen. And she hadn't been able to resist sneaking up on Rueful.

The animals chittered and chirped excitedly. 'So... are you guys ready?' she said, and they all nodded. 'Then let's go _crime-fighting_!'

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

It was a busy night at the Go City Auto show. A number of car companies were showing off their latest models in the huge convention center. The high ceilings were studded with spotlights, shining down on dozens of different display stages.

Timothy North straightened his hair between signing autographs. 'Thank you, good citizen!' he said firmly, handing a freshly inked photo back to a pudgy fellow with freckles and stringy hair. 'The Fearless Ferret is always happy to serve his loyal fans!'

The fan stepped away, looking at the signature. 'Dude - this is so _retro_!' he said.

'Retro?' said North to himself.

A snide laugh came from a man seated in a chair behind a table a few feet away from him. 'It means _old but still cool_, Ferret-face!'

'Don't start with me, Farnsworth.' North growled.

'You're so full of yourself just because you're getting more autographs than me.' said White Stripe in his deep, throaty voice.

'What can I say?' said North with a satisfied smile. 'Fans dig the car.' And he gestured to the Ferretmobile, which gleamed beneath stage lights on a raised platform behind his table. A huge banner, emblazoned with the words _Meet The Fearless Ferret_, dominated the scene. Underneath it was a much smaller banner which read, _Oh, And White Stripe Too_.

'Next time, I want the Skunkmobile here!' said Farnsworth with a sour look. 'My car looks cooler! I mean really - _brown_? What kind of color is that for a super-hero car? Now, black - _that's_ a cool color for a car!'

North sniffed. 'I _seriously_ doubt any super-hero would drive around in a _black_ car.' he said.

Farnsworth's rebuttal was interrupted by a loud explosion. There was a burst of light and sound, and several glass doors and windows which lined the domed arc of the convention center entrance were blasted apart. Conventioneers and staff scattered, filling the air with shouts as a helmeted biker roared through the smoking debris. Half a dozen other bikers, each riding choppers with spiked wheels, charged in the wake of the leader. North and Farnsworth looked on in startled amazement as the biker gang circled their display station, filling the air with the throbbing roar of their engines. The smell of gasoline and smoke whipped up around them.

The lead biker screeched to a halt and took off his helmet. A mullet of blonde hair fell around a moustached and bearded face. The man wore a cut off denim jacket and spoke in a raspy voice. 'All right, old dudes! The name's Motor Ed - and a ride _that _retro it too sweet to be touring conventions with a pair of geezers like you! It belongs in my collection, with a guy who'll appreciate it - _and soup it up with flamethrowers! Yoooooow!' _ Motor Ed ended with a quick round of air guitar.

Farnsworth glanced at North. 'Is... this part of the show?' he said.

North got to his feet, glaring at Motor Ed. 'If it is, then the show isn't just bad - it's _criminal_!'

Farnsworth rolled his eyes. 'Oh _please_...' he muttered.

'I suggest you clear off, Motor Ed!' said North, pointing dramatically. 'And take your toughs with you!'

Motor Ed smiled wickedly. 'Yo dude - seriously.' he said. 'You're, like, _way_ old to do the tough guy act!' He lifted a remote control and clicked it, and the rest of the bikers screeched to a halt in a circle around them. 'Besides - these guys aren't _toughs,_ dude. They're my _Seriously Wicked Android Bikers_!'

'_SWABs?_' said Farnsworth. But a close look at the bikers showed that beneath their leather jackets, they were entirely mechanical.

Motor Ed shouted. 'All right SWABs! Get that car!'

The bikers revved their motors and started forwards. North held his ground. 'Come on, Ferret!' Farnsworth shouted. 'What are you going to do, take your medication at them?' And as several hundred pounds of robot bikers rushed towards him, North had to admit that Farnsworth had a point.

Suddenly a cable shot across the space between North and the bikers. The robot cyclists were clotheslined and catapulted off their bikes, crashing to the tiled floor while their motorcycles slid forward on either side of North.

'Hello, Motor Ed!' came a perky, female voice. 'I was in town for the convention, and thought I'd drop you a _line_!' A lithe figure landed between Motor Ed and the aging TV superhero. She had flippy, red hair and an eager smile on her face.

'Kim Possible!' shouted Motor Ed. Then another figure fell from above, landing in a heap next to Kim.

'And Ron Stoppable!' said Ron, pointing in the air and getting painfully to his feet. Rufus scampered up the neck of his master. 'Hmm-hmm!' he squeaked.

'With this many famous cars, we figured you might show up.' said Kim with an indulging glance at Ron.

'Seriously red - this is once too often!' Motor Ed shouted. 'Time to take you for a _ride_!' He hit more buttons on the remote control for his bikers, and they clanked back to their cycles, smoothly mounting them and zooming towards the teen crime-fighters.

'Aaaah!' Ron squealed, and he started running the other way. Two of the bikers broke off in pursuit. The rest gunned their motors and targeted Kim, swinging heavy chains in their robotic hands.

Kim leaped straight up, and a whirling kick caught the first biker on his robotic nose. It's head came clean off and clattered across the floor, trailing sparking wires from its neck module. Kim used the loss of momentum caused by her kick to turn the leap into a mid-air somersault, which kept her airborne long enough for the remaining three bikers to miss her with their chains.

She landed firm on her feet as the bikers banked and turned for another pass. 'Stay back, Mr. North!' she called out, knowing the former hero/TV star would want to pitch in. As good as she was, she knew the robot bikers probably wouldn't fall for the same move twice. She tucked and rolled this time, but one of the chains brushed against her, stinging smartly. As she got back to her feet, the bikers were getting ready for another attack.

On foot against mounted enemies, she was at a disadvantage. She had to find a way to change that, and she smiled as her eyes fell on the motorcycle which had been left riderless by the disabled robot...

Ron was still squealing as he dodged and weaved around several display stages, with two of the robot bikers in pursuit. His running back skills, practiced on the football team, proved useful. He was more maneuverable on foot than the bikers were, and better able to turn. But he was running out of obstacles to keep between himself and the robots.

Finally he was cornered, and the bikers advanced on him, whirling their chains. Desperately, Ron grabbed the only thing close at hand - a fire hose embedded in the wall. 'Stay back, dudes!' he shouted. 'Or I'll... uh... ruin the finish on your bikes!'

Ron could have sworn that he heard grating, mechanical laughter from the robots as they charged. But he turned the hose on full blast, and to his surprise, it worked. Not like he expected, but the soaked robots began sparking and popping as the water flooded their batteries and circuits. They did 'The Robot' feebly for a moment before listing to the side and crashing to the floor with their bikes beneath them.

'Check it out, Rufus!' Ron shouted. 'My mad skills came through again!'

'Hmm-hmm - _lucky_!' Rufus chirped.

Kim had dashed for the fallen motorcycle, slid into it, and kicked it neatly into life. As the tires spun, the bike slid across the floor, and took her out of the way of the strikes of the attacking robots. As she gained more momentum, she got the bike upright, and roared through the convention center, dueling the remaining cyclers.

She raised her wrist Kimmunicator. 'Wade, I've got robot bikers after me!' she said. 'Tell me you can disable them!'

'I'm on it, Kim!' said Wade, his image typing madly on her Kimmunicator screen. Suddenly the screen split, and Motor Ed's face pushed in. 'Fat chance, computer geek!' he grated. 'After that mix-up with the Doom-vee, I made sure all my robots are protected! No _way_ you can stop them without the password! _Yooooow_!' and he did another round of air guitar.

Wade raised an eyebrow, then typed 'Air Guitar' in the password field of his remote disabler. 'Password - accepted.' said a computerized voice.

'Huh?!' spluttered Motor Ed. 'No way!'

Wade grinned, and after another few seconds of typing, the robot bikers suddenly stiffened, then slammed on their brakes.

Motor Ed had been trying to use a Slim Jim to break into the Ferretmobile, but he cringed as his own robot bikers, led by Kim, closed in on him. 'Give it up, Motor Ed!' Kim said.

Ron then barreled out of nowhere, holding a fire hose that was still spraying water. 'Hold on Kim, I'm-a-comin'! Waaugh!' And he suddenly jerked to a stop as he ran out of hose, his feet flying out from under him.

Motor Ed whipped something out of his pocket, and held it against the Ferretmobile. 'Don't come any closer, Red!' he shouted. 'Or I'll _key_ this car - seriously!'

Farnsworth spluttered. 'You fiend! Do you have any idea how expensive it is to finish those things?'

Motor Ed grinned as Kim halted and glared at him. 'Yeah, that's right, Possible dude-ette! Now back off nice and slow or the car gets it!'

But suddenly the shape of Timothy North loomed up behind Motor Ed, and a sturdy wooden cane came down heavily on the crown of his mulleted head with a loud _thunk_. Stars exploded behind Ed's eyes, and the world went fuzzy, spinning around him. 'Ow!' he shouted, but then his voice went equally woozy. 'Dude... _not_ cool...!' And he fell to the stage with a crash.

Kim gave the Fearless Ferret a quick salute. 'Thanks Mr. North!' she said.

North hefted his cane with a flourish. 'Always glad to lend a hand, citizen!' he said.

Farnsworth rolled his eyes and moaned from his table. 'Oh great.' he muttered. 'He helped take down a real super-villain - now he'll be even _more _insufferable...'

As take-downs went, it hadn't been so bad from Kim's perspective. It was accomplished fairly quickly, and damage was minimal. Once the fire hose had been shut off, the only thing left was the cleaning up. Motor Ed was tied up in his own chains, being watched over by cops while his robots were disabled.

The police chief actually had an Irish accent, which Ron found kind of funny. 'It'll cost about a thousand dollars to fix those broken windows, Mr. Ed!' said the chief. 'And that's coming out of _your_ pocket!'

Motor Ed winced. 'Aw, _man!' _He shouted.

'Uh, aren't you going to... you know... take him to _jail_?' said Ron.

The police chief twirled his billy club. 'Well, I _could_ put him away for a day or so for disturbing the peace.' he said. 'But as long as he pays for the windows, there's not much else we can hold him for. After all, the crime was thwarted, thanks to you, Kim Possible!'

'And _me,_ the Fearless Ferret!' said North, raising his fist.

The police chief sighed. 'Yes, and you, the Fearless Ferret.' he agreed. 'But since the Ferretmobile wasn't stolen, there was no real harm done...'

At that precise moment, the Ferretmobile roared into life. The boosters on the back blasted loudly, and the car launched from its stage. It weaved neatly through the other displays and booths. Kim looked through the tinted windows and briefly saw a helmeted figure behind the wheel. Then the car shot through the shattered entranceway and disappeared into the night. Only Motor Ed's discarded Slim Jim remained on the stage.

Kim's mouth hung open, along with everyone else's. A quick look showed that all of Motor Ed's robot bikers were broken and accounted for. Motor Ed himself was staring out after the Ferretmobile with a stunned look on his face.

'Dude! Someone _boosted_ my ride!' he shouted. '_Seriously_ - what kind of world are we livin' in? What kind of monster thinks he can just take something that doesn't belong to him? I mean... _seriously_!'

Kim glared at Motor Ed. Clearly the irony of what he was saying was lost on him.

Ron stared out. 'So - if Ed and his ro-bikers are all here - then who took the car?' he said.

'Whoever it was, they were slick.' Her eyes narrowed. 'They waited until everyone was distracted. If I didn't know better, I'd swear it was...' But she paused and shook her head. 'No, there was only _one_. It couldn't have been _them_...'

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

Behind the wheel of the Ferretmobile, Grimm Probable triple-checked his instruments to make sure he wasn't being followed. Jade had killed the cameras inside the convention hall, giving him a clear run at the Ferretmobile once everyone was focused on Motor Ed. Grimm knew once he was out of the convention hall, he would have to move fast. Kim Possible would either take one of the bikes to chase after him, or make a run for her goofy pink car. But they had no hope of tracking him now.

He had mapped out his escape route long in advance, and wired in to every police channel. With the help of Jade and Motor Ed, he had used their magnetic repulsion discs to improvise an anti-gravity flatbed. He'd parked it in an abandoned warehouse near to the convention hall, and speedily made his way there. After that, it had been a simple matter to drive the Ferretmobile onto it, clamp it down, and lift off through the open roof into the air. Any witnesses who may have seen the car going into the warehouse would not note its departure into the dark and unlit sky. Possible and the cops could track them and search the warehouse until doomsday, but Grimm would be long gone.

It was slower going by air. He had to make sure he stayed level, and resist the urge to do any maneuvers that the _Ksikkihkíni_ could do, but which the flatbed was not designed for. Before long, his night vision showed his destination - another abandoned warehouse miles away from the convention hall. A second open roof was waiting for him as he carefully descended.

He landed the platform, unclamped the Ferretmobile, and rolled it off into Motor Ed's combination garage/lair. As he exited the Ferretmobile, all seemed quiet. Grimm took a decorative pink bow from his pocket and slapped it onto the windshield of the Ferretmobile. Then he picked up a satchel that was lying on a nearby workbench. He checked it, thumbing through the piles of money inside it, then made his way towards the _Ksikkihkíni_, which was parked and waiting for him. He put the satchel inside a lead-lined briefcase and locked it in the trunk. He couldn't help smirking as he recalled his planning session with Motor Ed earlier.

_'Dude - you want me to get caught?' Motor Ed had said. _

_ 'Yes.' he said. 'Given your profile - people are going to expect you to try and steal that car. So even if you escape with it, it'll only be a matter of time before they hunt you down. The only way to guarantee that they leave you alone is to make them think you didn't get away with it.'_

_ Motor Ed. put a hand to his forehead, waving the other hand around as if he were swatting flies. 'Dude - slow down! Seriously!'_

_ 'Trust me.' said Grimm, with a smirk. 'If the cops have you in cuffs, and see someone else making off with the car, they'll forget all about you. Just make a good show of being ticked off that someone else got away with 'your' score.'_

_ Motor Ed thought. It was not unlike watching a tractor trying to gouge furrows into concrete, but he seemed to be getting there. 'But dude,' he said at last, 'If I'm in jail, I still won't have the car!'_

_ 'You will.' said Grimm patiently. 'Eventually. If you don't actually steal the car, the cops can't hold you for long. And when you get out, you'll be in the clear. No muss, no fuss, and no cops breathing down your neck. Just be patient, post your bail like a good boy, and don't blab. When you get out, the car will be waiting in your lair with a pretty pink bow.'_

_ Grimm watched a slow smile spread across Ed's face as it sank in at last. Then he laughed and slapped Grimm on the shoulder. 'Dude - you are cold!' he said. 'Seriously cold!'_

Grimm hooked up the hover flatbed to the back of the _Ksikkihkíni_ and tapped his communicator. 'Job's done, Jade.' he said. 'Normal precautions are in place.'

'Gotcha, GP.' came Jade's voice from the communicator. 'But auto theft? Kinda low-brow, isn't it?'

Grimm shrugged. 'You know how Motor Ed is. It didn't even cross his mind that he could have just used the money he spent hiring _me_ to actually _buy_ the Ferretmobile, or build an exact replica. By the way, Possible and her gang showed up.'

If Jade had been drinking a soda, she might have done a spit take. As it was, she spluttered for a few seconds before squealing, 'Gee - thanks for _telling_ me ex post facto!'

Grimm smiled faintly. 'Relax, I was wearing a biker outfit, not regular mission clothes. And I had gloves and a helmet on, they didn't see a thing. I trust you'll do the normal electronic cleaning up, lay smokescreens for the police, and make sure we're not being tracked?'

'Jeez mon - ya _think_?' said Jade, typing madly on her many keyboards. 'Yeesh, it gets tougher when _Wade_ is sniffing around. Just skee-daddle, pronto, and don't leave _anything_ behind!'

'Yes, _mother_.' said Grimm, smirking again. 'The flatbed will slow me down a bit, but I'll be back in Riddleton before you know it.'

Jade waved dismissively with one hand while still hunkered down over her keyboards, and typing with the other hand. Soon, Grimm was rising up into the sky on the _Ksikkihkíni, _with the flatbed in tow. As he used a remote to close the rooftop hatchway behind him, he allowed himself a moment to smile at the memory of the look on Kim's face when he'd left her in the dust. _'Too bad you wanted a night off, Rhonda.'_ he thought. _'You don't know how much fun you're missing!'_

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

Rhonda stood on the rooftop of one of the taller buildings in Riddleton. She looked out over the city, with sparkling columns of lit windows, and the lights of moving traffic laid out in a grid below. The wind whipped her blonde hair in the ponytail she'd tied it into. The battle suit felt oddly comfortable on her, partly because she knew how cool it looked.

_'I am vengeance!'_ she thought, clenching a fist and standing on the ledge. _'I am the night! I... am... BAT...!'_ But she halted, suddenly. _'Oh, yeah - copyrights.'_ she thought. _'Trying to be legit here...'_

She looked at the divide between the ledge where she was standing, and the ledge of the building on the opposite side of the streets far below. She'd seen Grimm use the grappling line countless times, swinging around easily. She'd used the regular grappling gun herself on missions a lot - usually almost taking dangerous spills. But Grimm had always been there to put out a steadying arm, or pull her up. But he wasn't there now, and she felt her heart pounding as she raised her arm, pointing towards the building across the way.

With an explosive _hiss_, the grappling line shot out and she felt the hook latch onto the cornice. Her breath puffed behind the ninja mask she'd put on to complete her disguise. One squeeze of her fingers, and the line would pull hard, yanking her out into space. 'OK, non flyers - hold on tight.' she said.

The gang of weasels and squirrels that had followed her all latched on. 'Ow!' Rhonda squealed. 'No claws - _no claws_!' she said. The owls and other birds that were part of the gang were already winging over to the other building. At last, she leaned back on the taut line, kicked her heels off the ledge, and started swinging out.

It was late, and there were no passers-by in earshot, otherwise they would have heard a prolonged, high pitched squeal from above as Rhonda arced across between the buildings. She almost forgot to retract the line, and squeezed too hard on the control. She saw the wall of the building approaching very rapidly and she flailed out her free arm, grasping towards the ledge where the hook was embedded.

There was a cloud of dust, and a _whoof_! Then her gloved hands were clenched on the ledge, and the piggy-backing animals swarmed up her arms onto the roof. Rueful and the other weasels reached back down to help her up, though they didn't really have the strength to do much.

Rhonda kicked her legs. The overhanging ledge kept her feet hanging in space and she grunted, trying to heave herself up. Finally she threw one leg over the ledge, and managed to roll up and over before lying on the roof, gasping for breath. Rueful fanned her with a discarded newspaper.

'Whoo...' she panted. 'Ok - we'll count that one as practice.' The assembled animals chittered, and after a moment, she staggered up and crossed the rooftop. She looked out and across to yet another building, then at her wrist where the grappling line was retracted, hidden and ready for another go. She winced at the thought of another try, but didn't want her adventure to be one swing between two buildings, then calling it a night...

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

It was nearly two hours later, and while Rhonda felt she was getting much better at grapple-line swinging, she didn't think she was anywhere near being a crime-fighter. In fact, she was pretty sure she was _breaking_ a lot of laws by swinging from rooftop to rooftop without some kind of permit.

But the routine was getting much easier. She would land on a rooftop, scan for a minute or two over each edge for anything suspicious, pick another building, swing over, and repeat. The animals who couldn't fly got into the groove too, jumping off Rhonda's back and scattering to help look over each rooftop ledge. Then clinging to her back and shoulders the next time she got ready to jump.

In all her years of doing missions with Grimm, Rhonda had always had him there to help out with her line swings. Now after one night without him, she wondered if maybe this had worked against her. She'd come to rely on Grimm giving her a helping hand whenever she tripped or stumbled. But she was learning to do it on her own now. Sure, she could feel several large bruises on her arms and legs, after slamming painfully into walls and ledges several times. She'd nearly fallen once when the grapple hook had pulled loose in mid-swing. After a second or two of blind, screaming panic, she'd remembered the other grapple line in the left arm, and actually felt pretty proud when she had latched on to another ledge and pulled herself up. The fear, the pain, the bumps and scrapes were pretty good motivators in getting it right (or at least better) for the next jump.

But still, she wasn't finding any crimes to stop, which was the whole point of the venture. Every time she heard a siren, she would swing off in pursuit of the noise. But each time she reached the point where the sirens had sounded, it was only to see the police wrapping up whatever crime had been in progress. After the third time, she heaved a sigh, and Rueful gave her a comforting pat from his perch on her shoulder.

'I guess it makes sense, Rueful.' she said. 'I mean, the cops only turn on the sirens _after_ the crooks have made their move, right?' The other animals nodded and chittered. She sat down on the ledge, staring down at blinking red and blue lights, while the police dragged a burglar out from a store in handcuffs. She sighed again. The owls perched on the ledge beside her hooted, hanging their heads in time with her.

She smiled at them faintly. 'Aw, I'm not blaming you guys.' she said. 'You've been great, going out and scouting. That sped thing up a lot, with your owl-ey eyes and everything. But we need to find a way to spot the crooks _before_ they make their move...'

There was a sudden beeping noise from her wrist. Given how she was trying to be as quiet as possible, the sound seemed to blare out like a hockey horn and she yelped, scrabbling at her wrist to try and shut it off. But Jade's voice piped out, tinny and piercing in the night air.

'Rhonda, what the heck are you doing?' she said.

'Shhhh!' Rhonda hissed, pulling off her mask and adjusting her wrist. A square of light on the glove covering her left forearm showed Jade's face, staring out at her.

Jade pursed her lips, then said in a low whisper, 'Rhonda, _what the heck are you doing_? Why'd you swipe the battle suit?'

Rhonda's mouth hung open. 'How did you know?'

Jade rolled her eyes. 'As powerful as that thing is, and as paranoid as Grimm can be - did you think I wouldn't make a program that tells me if it's being used without authorization?'

Rhonda winced. She should have known. Of _course_ the suit had been rigged. Grimm always rigged everything to make sure his, and the team's stuff, couldn't be stolen or used against them. But if Jade knew the suit had been activated... 'You didn't tell Grimm yet, did you?' said Rhonda in a fluttered voice.

'No.' said Jade. 'I knew you were the one who took it, so I figured I'd ask you first.'

'But how did you know _I_ took it?'

'It form-fits to the wearer.' said Jade, and her eyes twinkled a bit. 'And it's loaded with tracking devices in case someone steals it. Including a small _camera_...'

Rhonda paled a bit. Her scheme was in danger of being shot down before she'd even _done_ anything. 'Come on, Jade.' she said. 'I need to borrow it for a while...'

Jade swiveled her chair around in a circle. 'I'm listening.' she said. 'What for?'

Rhonda bit her lip. If Jade could track what she was doing while wearing the suit, there wasn't any way to hide it from her by lying. 'I'm... going out _crime-fighting_.'

Jade's eyes were wide and her expression was comical in its amazement. 'Uh... _why_?' she said at last.

'Because I just...' and Rhonda paused, struggling to explain it as much to herself as to Jade. '...I just want to know what it _feels_ like.'

Jade's face fell into a picture of deadpan confusion.

'_Please_ don't tell Grimm!' Rhonda wailed. 'He wouldn't understand - I'm not sure _I_ understand! It's just... something I've got to try.'

She waited in a panic as Jade kept gaping at her. At last, Jade slumped and sighed, looking up at towards the ceiling. 'Well... ok.' she said. 'But you know how Grimm is - he'll find out sooner or later.'

'Thanks, J-girl.' said Rhonda warmly.

Jade waved. 'Stop gushing...' she said, but she seemed to be smiling. 'So, you need me for anything?'

'No...' Rhonda started, but then spluttered. 'Wait - yes! Turns out that finding crimes in progress isn't as easy as it looks in the movies.'

'Yeah,' said Jade. 'Crooks usually try to _hide_ what they're doing... for whatever reason.'

'Is there any way you could... point me towards one?' said Rhonda.

Jade started typing. 'I donno, wiring into the city's network of police and traffic cameras could be tough. There's all kinds of encryption and... OK I'm in!'

Rhonda watched as Jade slowed in her typing. 'Well?' she said.

'I'm looking over about a hundred different screens at once.' Jade answered. 'Pick a spot near the center of town and chill for a while. When I see something, I'll let you know.'

And so Rhonda line-swung to a block near the middle of the city, parked on the roof and let the weasels and other animals play around while she kicked her heels idly over the ledge. She was getting bored and wondering if the night would be a bust, when Jade's voice piped in.

'There's a couple that just left a theater near Dime Alley!' she said. 'And I'm seeing about five guys following them from an alleyway. It's about six blocks away - scoot!'

Rhonda whistled and the animals clamored onto her back again while she put her mask back on. She jumped down and swung from building to building until she was near Dime Alley. She landed and looked out. Sure enough, she saw a young couple walking down the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street. About half a block away were five guys. The one in the lead was nodding to his fellows, and she saw them slipping blackjacks out of their leather jackets as they followed after the couple.

'Looks like the real deal, Jade.' she whispered. 'Shutting off the radio for a while!'

'Good luck.' said Jade. 'And _be careful.'_

Rhonda let the animals scatter and she stole her way across the street, following after the five men. She could feel her heart pounding, and hear her breath in her ears. She gathered that the couple had found out they were being followed, because the men following them had broken into a run...

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

Lake Jong gritted his teeth as he ran. It was supposed to have been a fun evening with his fiancee. Dinner had been great, the show had been great, and they had been talking about plans for their upcoming wedding when he'd spotted the men following him. They'd left their cell phones at home, wanting a night free from calls. But now that had worked against them, for they had no means of calling for help.

The street they had gone down was deserted and all the buildings seemed to be closed for the night. The gang chasing after them was blocking the way back to the better lit and crowded street near the theater.

'Lake - they're after us - do something!' His fiancee gasped. But he couldn't think of anything to do that would scare off five fully grown men. At last they were cornered, with the five men forming a semi-circle around them. Any doubt as to their intentions was removed when Lake saw they were each holding a weapon.

'All right, lovebirds.' said the leader. 'Hand it over - money, jewelry, credit cards, all of it!'

'Stay behind me, Rose!' Lake shouted, pushing her back.

All five of them laughed. The leader held up a knife. 'Best thing you can do for your chickie now is fork over the goods.' he said. 'Try and play the tough guy, and we'll put you down!'

'How about a tough girl putting _you_ down?' came a voice from behind them. All five of the muggers looked and saw a female figure, wearing a tight black outfit lined with glowing orange bands. She had what looked like a ninja mask over her face. 'First put down?' she said, 'You're all ugly!'

The leader winced. He motioned his fellows to keep Lake and Rose covered and barked over his shoulder at the newcomer. 'Beat it, girly!' he said. 'Boys at play, here!'

'Second put down - your comebacks stink!' said the girl in the mask.

'Charlie - Vince - _get her_ and make it quick!' snarled the leader.

Two of the muggers broke ranks and headed for the girl in the mask. The rest continued to keep the young couple cornered.

Beneath her mask, Rhonda teeth were gritted as the two muggers rushed at her. She waited until the last moment, when they were reaching out to grab her, then activated the suit's shield mode. Having watched Grimm use the shield several times, it felt bizarre to be using it herself. But she had to admit, it was pretty funny how the muggers were flung backwards by the translucent orange bubble that expanded out.

The muggers grunted as they landed on their backs and skidded. One of them reacted quickly, rolled back to his feet and charged at her. Rhonda brought her hands together and chanted.

_ Omahkkiaayowa, Nitohpoksiiyikitapiiyi!_

_ Omahkkiaayowa, Nitohpoksiiyikitapiiyi!_

The birthmark on her shoulder flared blue beneath the battle suit, and the thug brought his blackjack down, aiming for Rhonda's head. But Rhonda grabbed his arm and did a judo toss. The gang leader watched as his fellow literally flew over their heads, catapulted down the alley like a frisbee, and crashed loudly into a cluster of trash cans. He moaned feebly, but did not get back up.

'Third put down - you fight like _girls_!' Rhonda shouted.

'Bum rush!' shouted the gang leader. And at once, his three fellows rushed at Rhonda.

Rhonda smiled. Now that the initial skirmish was over and the adrenaline rush was under control, she started to relax a little. The suit's shield made blocking their attacks almost too easy. And with the Great Bear Spirit's strength, she was more than a match for the toughs confronting her. She kept using her judo to flip them around every time they tried to hit her.

_'You're lookin' at the gal who took on Hego, and a Yono powered Monkey Fist!'_ she thought. _'You think three muggers are gonna scare me?'_

'Take her down!' one of the muggers shouted.

'I'm... _tryin!'_ yelled the other. Rhonda had grabbed his wrist and was pushing his arm back, even though he was taller and much stockier. She swept his foot out from under him and sent him skidding sideways with a push.

'Who's next?' she said, the thrill of battle kindled in her.

The third mugger blindsided her and pushed her in the chest. Rhonda felt something behind her legs and lost her footing. Unseen while she had fought, the gang leader had circled round and knelt behind her. Rhonda had a second or two as she fell to give herself some mental kicks for falling for such an old trick. Then kicked herself a few more times as she saw the second mugger rushing at her with an upside-down trash can.

It went over her head, shutting out all the light. Mental revulsion made her hesitate and quail at the touch of the moist, foul-smelling metal. Then there was a loud _clang_ as something hit the can hard, making her ears ring and disorienting her. She heard the thugs laughing. But bracing herself, she raised her arms to push against the metal of the trash can. Her strength backfired, punching one hand clean through the side. She struggled to free herself, and felt more heavy blows raining on the side of the trash can. Finally, she remembered the shield mode, and turned it on. The can split apart, but she fell gracelessly on her backside, backed into the corner of the alley. She saw the young couple looking at her in fear while the thugs grinned wickedly.

'You've got some nice moves, lady!' said the leader. 'But not nice enough!'

'Get 'em, guys!' Rhonda shouted.

The thugs looked around for a moment, fearing some ambush, but they saw no one. They were just about to start laughing again when their vision was blotted out by a sudden fluttering of wings at their eyes. Two owls were swooping over them, raking at the tops of their heads with sharp talons. The gang leader whirled in confusion as his gang staggered around him, covering their faces. Then he yelped as a cluster of weasels swarmed out of nowhere, clawing up his pant legs, jumping onto his shoulders and scratching his ears. 'Ow! Hey!' he shouted. 'Get 'em off, get 'em off!'

'Move it fellas!' Rhonda shouted. The attacking animals suddenly scattered as Rhonda rushed at the muggers, her fist cocked. Her punch connected hard. With a flash of blue light and a distant sound like the roaring of a bear, all the thugs found themselves flying backwards and crashing against the wall of the alley. The air was knocked from their lungs, and they slumped to the pavement.

Out of breath, Rhonda stared at the street gang. They all lay still, groaning feebly. 'Yeah...!' said Rhonda, gasping. 'Let that be a lesson to you - when you come to, that is!'

'Oh my...' came a female voice. Rhonda turned to see the young couple, staring down at the unconscious muggers. 'Thank you!' said Rose.

'Fear not, good people!' Rhonda said. 'They won't bother you again! Or if they do, it... won't be until much, much later.' She realized she'd better quit before she really ran out of things to say, and turned to leave.

'Wait!' said Rose. 'Who _are_ you?'

'Who am I?' said Rhonda, the giddy thrill still intoxicating her. '_Who_ am _I_?'

'Yyyyeah, that's what she asked.' said Lake.

Rhonda went into a one-legged hopping dance, scooting back and forth with one arm stretched out in front of her. 'I am the terror that flaps in the night!' she shouted. 'I am the gunk in the engine of crime which makes it run at only half power! I am the all-powerful _Ni..!_'But Rhonda froze. She'd been on the verge of shouting _Ninjella_ as her 'hero name', but Grimm knew that one. If the couple were interviewed by the media, and they blabbed it...

They were still staring at her. 'Yes?' said Rose. 'You're..?'

Rhonda dithered a moment. _'Oh - crud!'_ she thought. _'Gotta come up with something new!'_ 'I'm the _Be..._!' But she froze again. _'Can't say Bear Priestess - Grimm knows that one too!'_

Both Lake and Rose were looking more confused by the second. 'The_ Buh_...?' said Lake, waving a hand as if prompting her.

All the clients she and Grimm had ever worked for flashed through her mind, and all their ridiculous code names and aliases. Then in a flash, she remembered Ron Stoppable, dressed in a goofy black costume with a big letter Z on his chest. 'Wait, no!' she said, waving her hands frantically. 'Tell all the jerks of the world to beware the wrath of..._ Poxorza the Liberatrix_!' Then she turned and ran, her face blazing red under her mask.

After pausing to let the animals climb on, she used the grapple line to ascend to the roof of a nearby building, then line swung a few blocks away. Only when she was sure that she'd shaken any pursuit did she let herself shrink into the corner on top of a skyscraper. She could still feel her face burning. 'Aw _jeez..._' she mumbled.

She heard the communicator beeping, pulling her back to reality. Her animal gang was surrounding her, looking at her expectantly. Finally, she sighed and tapped the communicator. 'OK Jade, let me have it.' she said quickly.

Jade had a deadpan expression, but there was a smirk lurking at the edge of her lips. '_Poxorza the Liberatrix_?' she said. 'Where did _that_ come from?'

Rhonda was groaning, holding her head in her hands. 'The only thing I could think of was what Ron turned into when we hit him with the Attitudinator - Zorpox the Conqueror. I just... jumbled it up a little to reverse things!'

'Well, that explains _Poxorza_.' Jade shrugged. 'And... Liberatrix?'

'It's the opposite of 'Conqueror'.' Rhonda muttered. 'You know - a conqueror takes people over. But a liberator frees them? And since I'm not a _dude_, I had to make it feminine by putting 'trix' at the end...'

'Uh huh.' said Jade, rolling her eyes.

But Rhonda was still talking. 'I mean... why does the feminization of a title have to have 'trix' at the end of it anyway?' she ranted. 'It makes us sound like some kind of breakfast cereal! Hey kids! Start off your day with a big bowl of _Liberatrix_!'

'Rhonda!' Jade barked. 'You're wigging!'

Rhonda slumped a little. 'Sorry.' she said sheepishly.

'Well, you'll be pleased to know the couple you helped will be OK. The cops just arrived and they're cuffing up your street gang.'

Rhonda nodded.

'So...' said Jade. 'Did you get this out of your system? Or are we gonna to do it _again_ tomorrow night, Pinky?'

Rhonda stood up and stared out across the city, which was glowing with thousands of lights in the inky darkness. 'I... don't know yet.' she said, sullenly. 'Guess I'll sleep on it.'

'Well then, you might want to turn in _now_ - because Grimm just finished up his own mission and he'll be back home in an hour or so. If you don't have the suit back before then...'

Rhonda winced. 'Right - got it! Done for the night - thanks Jade!'

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

Putting the battle suit _back_ turned out to be a lot easier than taking it. The suit's stealth mode made slipping into Grimm's place easy. Getting out was trickier. Rueful went ahead of her to scout, but even so, as she reached the top of the stairs leading out from the basement, Mim crossed by the opposite hallway. Heading from the living room to the study, she paused and did a double-take, staring at Rhonda.

'Uh - hey.' said Rhonda, awkwardly. 'Is Grimm... here? His room was empty.'

Mim rolled her eyes. 'Yeesh, Rhonda.' she said. 'Can't you do without him for ten minutes?' Then she stepped out of sight. Rhonda's cheeks felt like they were on fire all the way home.

She said good night to her animal helpers as she passed through her sanctorum. Later in her room, Rhonda sighed as she collapsed into her desk chair. Her whole body was starting to ache from the strains of the evening, and the bruises on her knees and legs were throbbing.

She hadn't blown it exactly, but her first foray into secret crime-fighting certainly hadn't been the hollywood dream she'd imagined. _'Well,'_ she thought, _'I guess Spider-Man and Batman had their share of spills when they started out.'_

And as she got into bed for the night, Rhonda lay looking up at the ceiling and mulling the whole experience over. _'Sure, I didn't come roaring out of the gate. But I saved that couple - I stopped the crooks - and Grimm didn't find out. Not a bad night, I guess. I mean, at least it wasn't the end of the world...'_

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

In space beyond the Earth, the vast fleet of Lorwardian ships continued their silent pursuit of Earth's orbit. But the invasion was not set to begin - not yet. They had tasks to accomplish first, under orders from supreme General Warhok. And one of those tasks was the completion of the marker project, branding the planets' surface in strategic locations to be landing zones for the walkers.

A project that had temporarily been halted, for fear that it had been compromised by the inhabitants of the planet.

BattleSkaar sat in the command chair on his ship. He heard the doors leading into the bridge open and close, then Sor'dClash, his first officer, crossed from behind into his view, saluting as he took his place in front of his commander.

'Report.' barked BattleSkaar.

S'ordClash bowed his head in a quick nod. 'We have captured the human discovered at the site for marker 23. He is being taken to detention for interrogation...'

'I will interrogate the prisoner myself.' Battleskarr broke in. 'Bring him... to my office.'

Sor'dClash winced. When BattleSkaar was angry, and wished to speak in his office, then those with whom he spoke rarely came out uninjured - if they came out at all. It was called his 'office' mainly in jest among the troops, who knew the room served as much as an interrogation and punishment chamber as it did an actual office.

Within moments, BattleSkaar was inside his office, tapping his finger impatiently on the armrest of his chair. This room was specifically designed to be intimidating, with only limited light on the chair, and the rest of the room shrouded in darkness. Soon, the chime to his door sounded and he barked out. 'Enter!'

Sor'dClash stood in the entryway as the door hissed open, but did not set foot in the room. 'We have brought the prisoner, as you have requested, commander.' he said with a half-bow. On a nod from his commander, Sor'dClash turned and gestured to two burly Fights who stood on either side of a figure. The Fights half dragged the figure into the office, then pushed him forward and retreated.

'Very well - now _leave_ us.' BattleSkaar said. And his subordinates quickly exited.

BattleSkaar regarded the creature now standing before him. It was a human male, but one so skeletally thin that he marveled he was even alive. He had dark skin, and was dressed in a brown cloak and poncho. The feathers of some kind of bird were draped behind his left ear. His hair was long and dark, but nowhere near as dark as his eyes - fathomless pools of black that stood in stark contrast to BattleSkaar's piercing, yellow eyes.

'Identify yourself!' BattleSkaar said.

'I am _Sskipoyiwa_.' said the man. 'But you may call me Maze. Who are you?'

BattleSkaar leaned forward. 'I will ask the questions!' he snarled. 'You stand in the presence of the mightiest warriors in the galaxy - the Lorwardian Empire! You are our prisoner, and will comport yourself accordingly. Any resistance and you will be punished!' BattleSkaar was curious, for while Maze bowed and nodded, he did not seem particularly intimidated.

'As you wish.' he said.

BattleSkaar heaved up and walked around his desk, circling Maze like a predator. 'Now... _Maze_.' he said, 'You appear to have stumbled into matters beyond your comprehension. You were found at the site of one of our covert operations. Why were you there?'

'I did not stumble into them.' said Maze. 'I have watched your operations, I have observed them. And I disrupted them specifically to gain your attention.'

'Then you have succeeded beyond your expectations.' BattleSkaar hissed, leaning down until they were nearly face to face. 'These are doings which our leaders wish to keep secret. Tell me why I should not _kill_ you where you stand - to ensure that secrecy!'

'Because,' said Maze, staring him directly in the eyes, 'I wish to _join_ you.'

After a few moments of silence, BattleSkaar bellowed with laughter. '_You_?' he said, after quelling his mirth. 'There are many soldiers - who, when they see the battle is lost, would gladly join the enemy ranks if they could. A coward's ploy to save themselves.'

Maze did not answer, and BattleSkaar glared down at him. The human looked so thin, frail and brittle that even the servant class could defeat him. 'I admit your trick got our attention - but little more.' he said. 'What service of value could you possibly render to Lorwardia?'

'If you choose to operate in the shadows, then I can be of great service to you.' said Maze. And with that, he bowed his head and began to chant in a low voice.

_ Sipimottakiksi, _

_ Nikaahtomaana nimaataakaniiwa..._

_ Sipimottakiksi, _

_ Nikaahtomaana nimaataakaniiwa!_

BattleSkaar shook his head impatiently. 'It is too late for _prayers_, human!' he said. 'If you can do no more than that, then your fate is sealed...'

Then he blinked in surprise, for Maze seemed to fade from view. BattleSkaar moved forward to seize him, but found himself blocked by some kind of invisible wall. He pushed against it for a moment, then snarled and struck hard with his fists. The barrier withstood him.

Barely visible now from within the shadow barrier, Maze spoke in a low voice. 'The shadows are my servants.' he said. 'They protect me from harm - it was also how I was able to hide your marker after it was set.'

BattleSkaar took the closest weapon he could reach, a heavy bladed spear from a rack on the wall, and continued striking hard, his face snarling.

'If you will calm yourself long enough to listen,' said Maze, 'You will realize that this power can aid you. If I can conceal your markers after they are set, I can conceal them while they are being made...'

BattleSkaar paused, his arm drawn back from another strike, and considered. Warhok was already impatient with how slowly the marker project was going. Despite his demands for total secrecy, he still wanted it done quickly so they could begin the invasion. Speed and stealth were often at variance with each other in military operations. If there was any chance that this human's curious power could allow them to speed the process...

Maze lowered the shadow barrier, and BattleSkaar stepped forward, his spear lowered. He held the blade to Maze's neck. 'An interesting display.' he said. 'I should kill you now for your insolence...'

'Just as our people will try to kill you for invading our world.' said Maze.

'Our leaders have set their minds to conquer this world, and it will be done!' BattleSkaar hissed. 'If your people resist, they will be destroyed!'

'And that would be a tragic waste.' said Maze, 'For your people, and mine. So I will aid you - to prevent any... _unnecessary_ losses.'

'You expect us to believe that you would help us to conquer your own world - and betray your own kind?'

'My world... has forsaken me.' Maze said, and his face looked twisted and bitter. 'I no longer have any loyalty to them.'

BattleSkaar glowered. While he could see the potential use for this human's power, the thought of presenting him to his peers and superiors was distasteful to say the least. His own first instinct had been to laugh, and he fully expected the same from the other Battles. They would not believe this human could be of any use.

BattleSkaar smirked, thinking he knew a way to prove his point. 'If you wish to be of _service_, then tell us all you know concerning these two humans.' He tapped a control on his desk and brought up one of their intelligence files. A holographic projection of a red-headed girl hovered above the desk, then another of a human male with blue skin. He expected Maze to dither and fudge in ignorance. After all, their scans showed there were billions of inhabitants on Earth. The chances that Maze would know these two were infinitesimal, and would be all the excuse Battleskarr would need to expose this human's worthlessness, and eliminate him. But to his surprise, the shadow shaman glared and nodded.

'I know these people.' he said with a scowl. 'The girl is named _Mi'kksiistsikomma_.' Then he gave a little shake of his head, and said, 'Kim Possible. The man is called Dr. Drakken.'

BattleSkaar blinked. In the intelligence briefings he had attended with the other Battles, he had been informed that among other objectives of the invasion, they were to pay special attention to hunting down two particular humans. They had even been presented a video feed showing the blue male, in which he identified himself by several names, including 'Drew', 'Dr. D', and Dr. Drakken. Though taken aback by this unexpected knowledge, BattleSkaar eagerly pounced. 'They are enemies of our supreme general!' BattleSkaar said. 'Do you know where they can be found?'

Maze nodded. 'Yes.' he said. 'They are _my_ enemies too. Kim Possible thwarted my own plans. Drakken betrayed me to my enemies, causing my downfall. If you wish to hunt them down, I will aid you. Among my people, I am an accomplished tracker.'

'Nothing of value comes without a _price_.' said BattleSkaar. 'What do you expect to gain in return?'

'My life - my freedom.' said Maze. 'And a chance to share in your revenge. And when your conquest is achieved - that I may be made a ruler over my own people - the Blackfoot Indians.'

BattleSkaar's eyes narrowed, and Maze immediately bowed his head a little. 'In your name, of course.' he said. 'And if it pleases you - there are other humans who are _my _enemies that could be added to your list. A girl named Rhonda...'

'We have no interest in helping _you_ with your petty grudges.' BattleSkaar barked. 'You will help us to accomplish our own ends. Once that is done, and you have proven your value, there will be time enough for you to indulge your spite.'

Maze hesitated, his hands twitching. But then he bowed again. 'Yes, my lord.' he said slowly.

'Very well.' said BattleSkaar. 'We accept your offer of assistance. As of this moment, you are a servant of the Lorwardian Empire! Serve well, and you will be rewarded - with everything you deserve.'

Maze nodded, a faint smile on his lips.

Coming Soon:

Chapter 3

Stereo-atypical

_Sorry about the long wait on this one (again). Between job hunting, and moving a few times, my leisure writing and drawing have taken a big hit. But I haven't given up on this story - quite the contrary. I had it in mind when I was in the middle of doing the Return of Zorpox, and that means not giving up until the tale is told :)_


	4. Chapter 3 - Stereo-atypical

All Things Probable IV

Graduation  
>Chapter 3<br>Stereo-atypical

It was the following morning. Rhonda and Grimm were walking from the parking lot towards Riddleton High for another day at school. They had both been a lot quieter than normal. Rhonda knew Grimm had been out last night on a mission, but hadn't told her. She was also terrified that Grimm would find out that she had done the same thing behind _his_ back.

'So...' said Grimm, not looking at her. 'All rested up?'

Rhonda felt a chill as she recited her practiced, but false answer. 'Yup.'

'Hmm.' Grimm nodded.

'Soooo... what did you wind up doing last night?' she said, already knowing the answer.

'Nothing.' Grimm shrugged.

_'Ooooh, you liar!'_ she thought. _'Going on a mission without me!'_

'How about you?' Grimm said, and instantly she went from resentment to panic.

'Uh... also nothing.' she said, fresh chills washing over her.

'Hmm.' Grimm nodded. 'So... whole lotta nothing went on, then.' And he opened the door into the school for her.

'Yup...' said Rhonda awkwardly, as she stepped through the door. 'Whoooole lotta nothing...'

She hung around Grimm while he did his normal morning check-in with Jade at the computer terminal mounted inside his locker - the usual coordination, and setting up their meeting with Killigan after school. But Rhonda was only half-listening, still mulling the previous night's escapades in her mind. And she found herself thinking of ways to avoid making the same mistakes, to improve her performance for the next time. With a start, she realized what she was thinking. _Next time...?_

'Right, Rhonda?'

Rhonda flinched, her thoughts abruptly scattering. 'Huh?' she said, looking back and forth.

Grimm was looking at her over his shoulder. Behind him, Killigan's face was glaring at them from the computer screen. 'I said, _'we'll do whatever it takes to find your grass vandal'._ And he nodded his head towards Killigan, looking at her expectantly.

'Oh! Yeah - right, right.' she said.

'Well see that ya _do_, laddies!' said Killigan gruffly. 'I'll expect ye at my castle this evening!' And the monitor winked off.

Grimm sighed as he turned to her, closing his locker. '_Not_ a good idea to get distracted in front of a client.' he said. 'We have to present an A-game face to keep them impressed.'

'Sorry.' she said, but deep inside, she felt a flicker of resentment - something she'd never felt before when working with Grimm, and it surprised her. She looked past Grimm to the walls above the locker, and immediately thought of a plausible dodge. 'It's just... Finals are this week, you know.'

Grimm looked where she was looking, at a large banner poster that read_ 'It's The Finals Countdown: Da-da-daaaa-daaah!'_ along with a mixture of cartoon musical notes. And to her relief, this seemed to satisfy him. 'Don't sweat it.' he said, turning back to her with a faint smile. 'Even with Darken's needling, we still got you caught up with everything you missed while you were... away. You'll do fine. We're due at Killigan's a couple hours after school. Stay frosty.' And he gave her a quick kiss before heading down the hall.

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

In orbit beyond the Earth, the Battles of the Lorwardian fleet were all seated around a conference table on board Warhok's flagship. As with most Lorwardian ships, the room was dimly lit. Everyone was glancing towards a larger, more imposing chair at the head of the table. That chair was empty.

BattleHard'n was tapping an impatient finger on the table. 'The staff meeting was supposed to begin ten _minutes_ ago.' he murmured.

'If you wish to begin without General Warhok,' said BattleF'yuri, with a smirk, 'By all means, conduct the meeting. I shall leave you to explain yourself to Warhok when he arrives.'

BattleHard'n's face turned brown in his anger at the needling. 'You insolent...' he growled, but his voice trailed back into silence.

'Still, I would rather be you than BattleSkaar.' said BattleF'yuri, turning to where BattleSkaar was seated to the right of the head chair. 'After all, he placed you in command of the marker project - which remains woefully behind schedule. I'll be interested to see how you explain yourself to Warhok this time.' BattleF'yuri was a skilled and eager fighter, a trait which he carried over to conversations. He delighted in taking what he perceived as the upper hand in any discussion, and keeping everyone off-balance. His determination to be victorious made him an asset on the battlefield, but an annoyance everywhere else. He faltered a little when he saw that BattleSkaar showed no sign of responding to him. After a moment's pause, he raised his voice slightly. 'I said - I shall be interested to see...' he started.

'I _heard_ you.' said BattleSkaar impassively. 'But as is often the case, I simply don't care what you have to say.'

Now BattleF'yuri's face was the one discoloring, but any attempt he was about to make to regain his conversational footing was stalled. The door to the chamber hissed open, and the hulking shape of Warhok strode into the room. The Battles all rose to their feet and saluted as Warhok took his place in the head chair. WarMonga was with him, and stood beside the chair like a guard.

With a motion of his hand, he gestured the Battles back to their seats. 'Let us begin.' he said, in his low, reptilian sounding voice.

Much of the meeting was procedural, with the Battles going over the dispersal of the ships, maintenance on the weapons, taking stock of their energy and supplies, and so on. At last, Warhok turned to BattleF'yuri. 'And what is the status of your ships and their crews?' He said, his voice now sounding bored with the meeting.

BattleF'yuri smirked as he stood up and addressed the supreme general. 'Unchanged, my lord.' he said. 'The fleet is deployed as you have ordered, and all is in readiness to launch the invasion. There is, however, a point of concern...' He let his voice trail off theatrically.

Warhok's yellow eyes narrowed. 'And what might that be?' he said impatiently, familiar with BattleF'yuri's penchant of turning meetings into verbal sparring matches with the other Battles.

'The men are growing impatient.' he said with a regretful sigh. 'They have been sequestered for some time now, waiting to begin the operation. There is only so much that working out in the training rooms can do to alleviate their stress. We await only word from BattleSkaar that he has _finally_ completed the marker project. And, no doubt, he is here to provide that word.' And here he stared at BattleSkaar with a triumphant smirk.

'Well, BattleSkaar?' said Warhok. 'What say you? I confess - I share the anxiety of BattleF'yuri's men with regards to beginning the invasion.'

'Not to mention, the hunt for the humans who... defied me!' said Warmonga, stepping forward suddenly. 'We have heard nothing about the status of this search for some time and...' Warhok did not speak. He merely made a half-glance towards Warmonga. She caught the motion at once, and stepped back a pace. '...and our Supreme General is most displeased.' she ended, her voice now sounding more formal.

Warhok glared back towards BattleSkaar. 'Well?' he said. 'What have you to say?'

BattleSkaar did not rise. He merely looked at the center of the table as if pondering. 'The answer to both of those questions must be answered with another question.' he said. 'Do you want the operations done quickly - or do you want them done successfully?'

Warhok's eyes narrowed again as tension flared in the room. BattleF'yuri pounced eagerly. 'Do not insult our captain general.' he sneered. 'He requires speed _and_ success, and you have had time enough to...'

'Do not presume to speak for me, BattleF'yuri.' Warhok growled, and BattleF'yuri fell silent at once. Then staring at BattleSkaar, he went on. 'But you disappoint me, BattleSkaar. I trusted you with both preparing this world to be conquered, and hunting down the two humans. And it does seem - you have failed at _both_.'

'The key so far has been stealth.' said BattleSkaar. 'As I am sure we _all_ know,' he paused, bowing his head slightly to BattleF'yuri, 'We have been straitly charged with ensuring the humans know nothing of their coming doom until the moment we strike.'

'Yes yes, we are _all_ well aware.' said BattleF'yuri. 'If you are trying to say that you lack the subtlety for these operations, then I humbly offer to assume command. I assure you, Lord Warhok, that I and my men stand ready to...'

'Perhaps, Lord Warhok, you recall Warmonga's report on the human's stealth technology.' said BattleSkaar, breaking over the voice of his comrade. 'As it happens - I have recently acquired access to similar methods of concealment, which should speed the marker project to the point where we are back on schedule.'

BattleF'yuri winced at the look of quiet interest that spread across Warhok's face. BattleSkaar had timed this revelation well, scoring a definite touch against him.

'Truly?' said Warhok. 'That is of interest.'

'And do you bring proof of this acquisition?' said BattleF'yuri, horning back in. He looked around the room mockingly. 'I see no evidence of it.'

'Of course you do not _see_.' said BattleSkaar with a sneer of his own. 'It is _stealth _technology. Still, if you desire a demonstration...' He looked back to Warhok. 'What would you say is the most vulnerable point on this ship?'

'The off switch in Main Engineering, of course.' Warhok growled.

'Which is why they are always kept under heavy guard...' BattleF'yuri drawled.

As they spoke, BattleSkaar tapped a button on his bracer, which emitted a soft beep. The room was immediately plunged into total darkness. There was a draining, humming sound. BattleF'yuri flailed his arms and legs as he felt the artificial gravity turning off, and a tightness in his chest told him that life support had also gone down. There were several seconds of shouting and confusion in the darkness. Warhok's voice rose above them all in a grating shout. _'BattleSkaar...!'_

Another beep, and the lights, the gravity, and the air were all restored. Some of the Battles fell from mid-air onto the floor in tangled heaps. Warmonga was stumbling as she steadied and righted herself, looking around in surprise. Warhok had kept a firm grip on his chair, as had BattleSkaar, and they merely lurched as the feeling of weight returned to them. The communication panel next to Warhok was flashing, and there was a muted babble of voices over several comlinks. Warhok glared angrily at BattleSkaar. 'You dare to sabotage my command ship?' he hissed.

'My apologies - but I believe I was asked for _proof_ that I have access to methods of human cloaking and concealment.' he said with a bow to the supreme general. 'Despite heavy guard, you see I was able to compromise main Engineering.'

BattleF'yuri looked rattled, but still defiant. 'We were at our ease!' he snarled. 'It's hardly impressive for you to catch us off guard in the very midst of our own fleet! Any simpleton could sneak a lone operative past security with disguises and proper timing - setting the markers without detection is another matter entirely...'

'Well - surely you are on your guard _now_.' said BattleSkaar, and finally there was the hint of a smile on his face.

'I...' BattleF'yuri began, but there was a sudden blur of motion from behind him. Out of nowhere from the shadows, several Fights strode forward with weapons in hand. One of them held a blaster to the back of his head. BattleF'yuri froze, his eyes twitching fearfully from side to side.

BattleSkaar's smile was now wide and triumphant. 'Do you require any further proof?' he said casually.

'Enough!' Warhok rose from his chair. 'You have made your point.'

BattleSkaar nodded to his troops. The Fights holstered their weapons, stepped back and bowed.

'General!' BattleF'yuri hissed, with yet another nervous glance behind him. 'BattleSkaar has made fools of us - this is an outrage!' But he desisted when Warhok waved him to silence.

He strode slowly around the table, taking note of exactly how many Fights had been part of the demonstration. 'That was extremely disrespectful,' he said at last. 'But bold - impressive - and above all, _effective_.'

Without any further preamble, BattleSkaar waved to his side, and another figure stepped forward from the shadows. This was no Fight though, but a small, thin human dressed in strange garb and carrying a staff. 'Allow me to introduce _Maze_.' he said, and Maze nodded without speaking. 'We captured this human during the marker operation - and he has agreed to enter our service. It was he who provided the concealment for this demonstration - and more. We have already conducted the setting of an additional marker, making use of his abilities. The operation was conducted near one of the humans' major cities - yet it was accomplished without detection.'

BattleF'yuri felt anger as Warhok looked more and more impressed. His advantages in this meeting were rapidly evaporating, and BattleSkaar was scoring definite points. Even his fellow Battles were nodding and muttering.

'Making use of the human's abilities, I have every confidence that the marker project will be completed without further difficulty...' BattleSkaar was saying, gesturing towards a tactical map of the planet Earth, showing the location and statistics of each designated landing zone.

'I would like assurances beyond your word.' said BattleF'yuri. 'Has this human even been properly questioned?' He glared at Maze. 'Why do _you_ not speak, silent one?' he said, mockingly.

Maze bowed his head slightly. 'I will speak, if ordered.' he said quietly. 'Because unlike some others in this room - I know my place.' At Maze's words, there was a ripple of chuckles from the other Battles.

BattleF'yuri gritted his teeth angrily. 'You expect us to place our confidences and trust the success of the invasion to... _this_?' he hissed, gesturing to Maze. 'Look at it! Frail, and weak...'

BattleSkaar paused, looking at BattleF'yuri in amusement, and BattleF'yuri could tell that he had seen through his attempt to wrest control of the debate again. 'Perhaps, General Warhok, you could have Warmonga inform the room of how remarkably resilient the humans can be, despite their size...?'

Warmonga glared furiously. But Warhok held up his hand and silence fell. He regarded Maze for a moment before staring directly at BattleSkaar. 'Will you swear with an oath, that the marker project will be completed on schedule, and that the Earthlings will not be aware of our forces until it is too late?'

BattleSkaar nodded. 'On my _life_.' he said. 'And... as a gift to Warmonga, I offer this information - intelligence also supplied by our new servant.' He tapped the controls embedded into his bracer again, and the image of a red-headed human female appeared on the holographic viewscreen, along with map coordinates. 'Coordinates for the dwelling place of the human female known as Kim Possible.'

Warmonga turned an eager and ferocious look to Warhok, who looked back at her understandingly. 'General!' she said. 'Let me go and...'

'In due time.' Warhok broke over her. And she lapsed back into silence. He turned back to BattleSkaar, and he was now smiling. 'You have done well, BattleSkaar.' he said, clapping his hand on his shoulder. 'I admit I was losing confidence. Do you have news of the other human? The one who claimed to have been the Great Blue?'

'Soon, my lord.' said BattleSkaar. 'Maze is a hunter. As with Kim Possible, the blue human will not elude us much longer.'

Warhok nodded. 'Very well. But if this human is to hunt for us - he will need suitable weaponry. See that he is upgraded, then continue with the operations.' He looked around the table at the rest of them. 'Return to your posts - that will be all.' Then he turned and left the room, with Warmonga following in his wake.

The other Battles resumed their muttering, but BattleSkaar nodded to Maze and the Fights, and they trooped out from the conference room not long after Warhok had left. BattleF'yuri remained on his feet, glaring silently after them.

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

On board their shuttle, BattleSkaar and his crew glided through the cloud of Lorwardian ships and cruisers, heading back to their own flagship. Maze was seated uncomfortably in one of the hard seats, looking comically small beside the muscular Fights. BattleSkaar was seated in the command chair.

'Permission to speak, my lord?' said Maze, after several minutes of silence. BattleSkaar turned his head, and grunted. Maze left his seat and stood next to the command chair. 'I trust this meeting went according to your wishes, and that your comrades were suitably impressed?'

BattleSkaar paused before answering. 'You have done well, so far.' he said. 'Your control over shadows allowed us to slip an operative into Engineering, and the distraction there allowed our men to enter the conference room without detection. Though the 'hunt' for Kim Possible was hardly an accomplishment to boast of. Had we known that she made no secret of the location of her home...'

'Nevertheless, thanks to me, it is one less thing for you to worry about.' Maze said. 'But I am curious to know... what did your leader mean when he said I should be... _upgraded_?'

BattleSkaar glanced aside at him. 'Because BattleF'yuri was right.' he answered. 'You _are_ weak. And among our people - that will not do. Battle and combat are filled with chaos and unpredictable outcomes. There may come a time in our service when you must fend for yourself. Since you lack the physical prowess of our warriors, the only option is to equip you with our advanced weaponry.'

Maze winced on hearing this, but BattleSkaar's ship was now looming before them, gliding towards the docking bay, and no one heeded Maze for the moment as they prepared to land.

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

_Tweeeeeeeeeet!_

The coach's track whistle sent it's piercing trill echoing over the grounds at Riddleton High. 'All right _ladies_, time's up!' shouted Coach Lynch. She tucked her whistle beneath the collar of her grey track jersey. The line of girls on the track team dropped from their chin-up bars and groaned, either sitting on the ground, or lying flat in their weariness. All except one. Rhonda Fatigable was still doing pull-ups. She didn't even seem to have heard the whistle. 'And the winner is... Rhonda!' Said Lynch.

Rhonda was still doing pull-ups though. It looked like she was actually daydreaming and not paying attention. 'Rhonda!' Lynch barked. 'I said _time_!'

'Huh?' Rhonda said, then looked around in confusion. 'Oh - yeah.' and she dropped to the ground, looking unwinded.

Lynch raised an eyebrow, but went on with the lesson. 'I know you Seniors are in your last few days here.' she said. 'But the rest of you will be back next year, and I want you toughened up so you don't go completely soft over the summer! And even you Seniors still have to take the end of year physical as part of your exams! Remember that while you do your cool-down stretching, then hit the showers!'

The girl track team groaned again, but staggered to their feet and began stretching feebly. Felicia took a place next to Rhonda, who stretched as well, though she seemed to have lapsed back into daydreaming. Rueful was stretching beside her.

'Penny for your thoughts, BFF?' she said.

Rhonda shrugged. In truth, she was still thinking about the other night, and her crime-fighting venture. She had made up her mind to try it again - but there was a problem. Grimm's single-minded mission mentality. When would she ever find a time to fly solo again? It would be so much easier if he could come _with_ her and be part of it all - but she knew he'd never buy into it. She could practically hear his voice saying: _'Who's going to pay us?'_ Finally she said out loud, 'Finals are coming up.' It had worked with Grimm, and she hoped it would work with Felicia.

But Felicia didn't seem to fully buy it. 'What kind of exam prep lands you with all the bruises?'

'Huh?' Rhonda said.

Felecia slapped her lightly on her thigh, making her squeal. '_Those_ bruises!' she said. 'You look like one of Jackson Pollock's throwaway canvases. Has Grimm been working you too much in the training yard?'

Rhonda hadn't really noticed. Running up and down both legs were a series of mottled purple and yellowish splotches, souvenirs of her adventure from last night. 'Oh!' she said, latching on to Felicia's presumption. 'Yeah - I was off kilter the other day, and Jade had put some fresh air cartridges in the tennis ball launchers...'

Felicia shrugged. 'Well, it doesn't seem to have affected your game. I mean, I'm used to you creaming everyone else on the race track, but lately you've been beating us in _everything_.'

'Have I?'

Felecia was looking more politely incredulous by the moment. 'Rhonda...' she said, 'What's _up_ with you? You did like _sixty_ pull-ups without breaking a sweat! You even beat _me_, and I've got a mechanical arm! And don't say it's exam jitters - I'm worried about the exams too, but that didn't turn me into ultra-girl.'

Rhonda dithered for a few moments, because Felicia was sounding downright suspicious. 'Uhhhh...' she said intelligently, looking at Rueful for support. But Rueful spread his paws out and shrugged.

At that moment, Lynch blew her whistle loudly again. _'Showers_, ladies!' she yelled.

'Woops - gotta go!' Rhonda spluttered, and dashed towards the locker rooms, leaving her unsatisfied friend behind.

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

After cleaning up and getting dressed, Rhonda was walking through the halls to her next class with Rueful's head poking out of her backpack. The school day was drawing to a close, and all she wanted to do now was find someplace to think in peace. But she knew the mission to Killigan's was coming up. And who knew what else was coming in to Grimm's inbox from Jade? How would she ever be able to try another hero-style outing with everything else that was going on?

_'Ms. Fatigable!'_

Rhonda flinched, stopping in place and turning around. Ms. Darken was standing in the hall, staring at her. 'Uh... yes?' she said, timidly.

'How did it go last night?'

Rhonda's jaw nearly dropped. 'H... how did _what_ go?' she said, struggling to keep her voice from quavering.

Ms. Darken's eyes narrowed. 'The _independent venture _you spoke of?' She said.

A jumble of memories flashed through Rhonda's brain. Line swinging between buildings, fighting the muggers, and sneaking in and out of Grimm's house... 'Oh! Uh... great.' she said. Ms. Darken simply stood there staring at her. Finally, Rhonda bit her lip and looked away. 'Well... gotta get to class.' she said. And at Ms. Darken's half-nod, she turned and started away down the hall.

_'Ms. Fatigable!' _

Rhonda flinched, freezing in place as Ms. Darken's voice barked out again. _'What, are we in a Columbo episode?'_ she thought, but paused to look back.

The Principal's eyebrow was raised high, and an uncharacteristically mischievous look was on her normally stern face. 'Interesting things I saw last night on the news.' she said. 'It would seem we have some kind of heroine vigilante in town. Calls herself 'Poxorza'. Very interesting... _indeed_.'

Rhonda had never actually _felt_ as if color was draining from her face, until then. She dithered for a moment, then forced out a dry, wheezing chuckle. 'Really?' she said, gritting her teeth and forcing her lips into a weak smile. 'Talk about weird. Takes all kinds to make a world, huh?'

Ms. Darken continued to stare at her. 'Yes.' she said. 'Yes, it does.' Then after another uncomfortable pause, she turned and strode away, her heels clacking on the tile floor.

Rhonda detoured into the girl's restroom, made sure she was alone, then started hyperventilating. Rueful passed her a paper bag from the backpack and she took it eagerly. _'Oh man...__' she_ thought. _'They're on to me! They are so onto me! And it was just one night! I had a mask on and everything - how come Clark Kent gets to fool everybody with a pair of stupid glasses?'_

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

'Thanks for the boost, Senor Senior Sr.' said Grimm. The cargo hatch of the Seniors' luxury jet had been opened, and the _Ksikkihkíni_ was poised for a launch into the void.

'Think nothing of it, Mr. Probable.' said Senor Senior Sr., looking over his shoulder at them from the cockpit. 'I was on my way to my European villa, and it is a happy coincidence that our paths are so close. It is the least I can do after you suggested Mr. Rotiffle should be the one to write the computer program for Junior's online dating search.'

'Always glad to help, Mr. Senior.' Grimm answered with a salute, and then he hit the accelerator and the _Ksikkihkíni_ launched through the cargo hatch.

Even after her experience the previous night, Rhonda still found high altitude flying to be terrifying, and she held tight onto Grimm as they careened through the air. It wasn't long before Duff Killigan's island was in view. They were still a fair way off, and Grimm descended until they were only a few yards above the surface of the water.

'Not that I'm complaining, but why are we going in so low?' Rhonda shouted above the surrounding wind.

'Just staying under the radar like we always do.' Grimm called back. 'Ever since that business with the Ultra-Atmospheric Jammer, most countries have been pretty paranoid about people invading their air space.'

Soon they reached the island, and Grimm swooped the bike upwards to dart past the cliffs, then skidded the bike onto the path leading to Killigan's castle. The structure loomed before them, a strange throwback to medieval times, complete with flaming torches and flapping banners.

Grimm dismounted and hammered on the heavy wooden doors of the outside gate, and a moment later, Duff Killigan was pushing the door open and stumping out to join them. 'It's about time!' he huffed. 'This way!' and he strode out onto the grounds without any further preamble.

They hiked up several rolling hills. 'What, no tea?' said Rhonda.

'I'm not _payin' _ye for tea!' said Killigan. 'Me grounds have been violated, and I want ye to find out _who_ did it!' He abruptly halted as they reached a wider expanse.

It was a beautiful sight - with the rippling green hills smoothly sweeping all around them, and further beyond was the deep blue of the sea. The grass was lush and neatly manicured, like a vast, green shag carpet with dirt. There were oval shaped patches here and there. Some were a deeper shade of green, with flags planted in them. Others were yellowish-white sand traps. It was a top notch golf course.

Except that there was a huge patch of ragged black in one area, as if flames had scorched the earth. Grimm took out his communicator as they hiked to the edge of the blighted grass, and Rhonda heard the high pitched whine of the scanner. He stooped to one knee, running his hand across a charred section, feeling the ashes and even holding some up to his nose to sniff while keeping his other hand and the scanner held out.

Finally he stood up again. 'It's like regular old burnt grass.' he said. 'How about it Jade - anything unusual?'

The communicator buzzed with static for a moment. Grimm frowned and shook the communicator for a moment before Jade's voice piped in. The picture and audio were scratchy. 'Sorry GP - there's some kind of global interference going on - could be sunspots. But I'm not detecting any chemicals or accelerants in the patch you scanned.' she said. 'And when you consider the amount of precipitation the island usually gets, that's weird. If it was ordinary vandals, they'd have needed a truckload of gasoline or lye to burn up moist grass like this. Rocket fuel burns cleaner, but even that would have left traces.'

'That's what I was thinking.' said Grimm, shaking his head. 'It's a _really_ clean burn - almost like someone did it with a laser.'

Rhonda shrugged. 'Maybe one of the other super villains did it as a prank.' she said. 'Dementor, or Drakken? He mounted a death ray on that hovercraft of his once, didn't he?'

Killigan sniffed. 'Well _that_ would explain a few things.' he said, growling. 'I have na' really been on speaking terms with Drakken since that business with the Centurion project...'

'Still, if Drakken wanted to go after Killigan, I think he'd do more than just torch part of his lawn.' said Grimm. 'But, it's a place to start. Jade, look up any individual or group on Earth who would have the tech to pull this off, and cross-reference it with anyone who might have a grudge against Killigan. As a mercenary for hire, he could have made any number of enemies.'

'Aye, and _ye_ wouldn't know anything about bein' a mercenary now, would ye laddie?' said Killigan sarcastically.

'Fraid not.' said Grimm. 'Jade - scoot.'

'On it!' Jade chirped, and the communicator screen went black.

'And Killigan?' Grimm said, turning back to the evil golfer. 'When we track down your vandal, we'll be in touch. In the meantime...'

Killigan winced, handing over a thick wad of bills and sounding tired. 'Aye, I know the routine. Half now, the rest when ye're done.'

'Please and thank you.' said Grimm, handing the money to Rhonda, who sighed and did the long-practiced sweeping of the cash for bugs and tracer chemicals. Suddenly she heard a loud buzzing and yelped, thinking maybe at last the scans had turned up something bogus. But the buzzing wasn't coming from her communicator. The putting green in which they were standing had a flag with a decorative knob on top mounted in the hole. The knob was now glowing red and emitting a loud alarm.

'Proximity alert!' Killigan said, striding to the edge of the green. A small patch of turf rose up, revealing a metal cylinder, which had a computer screen and console embedded into it. 'Someone's approachin' me island!'

Rhonda's mouth hung open. 'You have control panels installed on the _grounds_?' she said in disbelief.

'Aye.' said Killigan, tapping at the keyboard. 'A good game o' golf takes a while, lassie. I canna leave in the middle of a game whenever I get a phone call!'

'Ever hear of cell phones...?'

But Killigan was leaning towards the screen. It showed a section of blue sky. And against the blue, a set of blinking yellow crosshairs were flashing around a small dot of pink. Rhonda leaned in. 'Who is it?'

Grimm leaned in as well, and his eyes narrowed. 'Flying. Pink. _Possible_.' he grimaced. 'Great. _Her_ we don't need.'

Rhonda shrugged. 'What's the big deal?' she said. 'We're not doing anything illegal, so what if she catches us here?'

A smirk was still lurking at the edge of Grimm's lips as he slid the communicator back in his hip pouch. 'I had my fill of them during the Monkey Fist sitch.' he said. 'Besides, there's no reason to remind them we're still out there.'

'We could swap notes, maybe.' said Rhonda. 'If they're investigating the lawn, too...'

'Doubtful.' said Grimm, backing away towards the castle where the _Ksikkihkíni_ was parked. 'And if they want our intel, they'll have to A: come begging, and B: _pay_ for it.'

Rhonda almost sighed audibly. She'd never realized how petty the whole rivalry with Team Possible had become. Grimm was treating it like a game of hide-and-seek. Which might have been fun if they were still in pre-K, but they were teenagers now... She didn't want to bother running and hiding from Kim and Ron, especially since they weren't doing anything to be ashamed of. But Grimm had turned to Killigan, speaking rapidly as the tiny speck that was the Sloth continued to approach.

'Killigan - did you set up those extra traps like I suggested?'

'Aye.' Killigan answered.

'Set off a few to distract Possible and her gang while we take a powder, would you?'

Killigan's face broke into its first smile since they had arrived. '_Now_ ye're talkin', laddie!'

They raced back to the castle entrance. Grimm and Rhonda mounted the bike while Rueful squeaked excitedly from Rhonda's backpack. But Grimm didn't take to the air. Instead he saluted Killigan, then set off along the grounds, steering towards a set of raised bluffs in the distance.

He was going so slowly that Rhonda got nervous. 'I thought we were taking off...' she said.

Grimm shook his head. 'If we go skyward now, they're bound to see us.' he said. 'So we wait for the right moment. We'll keep an eye on where they land, then the minute they're looking away...'

But both of them froze in surprise. The Pink Sloth roared right _over_ them, and landed only a few yards away. Grimm winced and scooted the bike along the rough ground until they were shielded behind a small ridge. After a moment, they heard approaching footsteps.

Rhonda craned her neck around Grimm's shoulder glimpsed the heads of Kim and Ron - just past the ridge and only a few feet away. She almost squealed, but Grimm raised a finger, shaking his head. For the moment the bike was concealed in shadows, but if either Kim or Ron turned towards them...

But Kim had a pair of binoculars out, and she paused, crouching down. She had taken place behind another smaller ridge, near some of Killigan's golf holes. Her back was turned to them, and she seemed to be scoping out the castle and the grounds beyond. 'If Killigan has been vandalizing golf courses, we need to find out why!' they heard her voice speaking.

Ron didn't see them either. He seemed focused on Kim, although it was clear he hadn't been listening to her. 'Yeah I guess when you think about it - we've been through a lot together.' he said. 'And Graduation shouldn't have any effect on our relationship...'

'Um - Ron? Low pro?' said Kim.

'Oh!' Ron said, and he quickly crouched down, his voice sinking to a whisper. 'I always forget! _Horizontal_ sneaky!'

Kim had resumed her spying on the grounds. 'Looks normalish...' she said.

Rhonda remained hunkered down on the bike. All Kim or Ron would have to do was turn around and they'd be caught. She still didn't think it would be any big deal, but Grimm whispered softly, his voice almost totally muffled by his helmet. 'Wait for it...' he said.

Kim was talking to someone on her Kimmunicator, and Rhonda caught the static-ey voice of Wade. 'But they're probably hidden...' he was saying.

At that moment, the ground trembled. And suddenly, gigantic telescoping cannons were rising out of the ground to Kim's left and right. They leveled and aimed at Kim and Ron. 'Not anymore!' Kim said fiercely.

The cannons rocked in place as they fired cascades of beeping golf balls. Kim and Ron vaulted over the ridge in front of them and dashed forward, disappearing from view as the first volley hit with loud explosions. The muffled sound of continuing blasts and Ron's wailing screams told Rhonda that there were more cannons planted on the grounds as well.

'Go!' Grimm said, and the _Ksikkihkíni_ suddenly shot forward. The nacelle wings unfolded and they were soaring up and away.

Rhonda looked back down as the island shrank beneath them. She could still see Ron and Kim, dashing along, barely staying ahead of the explosions, but still heading towards the castle. 'Yeesh,' Rhonda said. 'If Killigan's kilt was in such a wad about keeping his golf course in good shape, then why do his traps involve dropping _bombs_ on it?'

'That's his problem.' said Grimm, the flushed excitement of a successful getaway was in his voice. 'Eat our dust, Possible!' And he gunned the bike, heading away at top speed.

As the island got smaller, Rhonda noted something strange about the grounds - the patch of ruined grass had a strange shape, like a symbol of some kind. 'Grimm?' she said. 'You might want to look at this...'

'In a minute.' he answered, distracted. 'Gotta keep an eye on the instruments. Nations - airspace - trigger-happy... You know the drill.'

Rhonda sighed and lapsed into silence as they flew, but she kept her neck craned back, looking at the strange symbol. She wasn't sure why, but something about was disquieting.

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

Later in his room, Grimm was putting away his mission gear. _'Not a bad afternoon, all things considered,' _ he thought. _'We've got Killigan on the hook for a decent price, Jade'll track down the vandal lickety-split, and we got to skunk Team Possible again to boot. Nice.'_

He was turning away from the closet, intending to do some more studying for the upcoming final exams, when his glance swept across the battle suit. He paused, because something caught his eye. He leaned in, looking closer. And he frowned as he plucked a long, blonde hair from behind the collar...

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

'What's up?' said Rhonda. She was in Grimm's room, and feeling annoyed again. She was just getting started on more studying for her own finals when her communicator had beeped and she'd read a text. _Rhonda - come to my place - we need to talk. - Grimm_

She'd gone over right away, and was getting confused because he didn't seem in any rush to tell her _why_ he'd interrupted her homework. Grimm looked uncomfortable and didn't answer. Instead he stepped past her and pushed the door closed.

'Uh... you know your mom doesn't want the door closed when we're in the room together, right?' she said, having had Mrs. Probable's house rules welded into her head through months of constant repetition.

Grimm shrugged. 'Best to keep this one on the down-low.' he said.

Something about his voice was off, and she was starting to get worried. He wasn't talking or acting at all like he wanted a kiss or anything. He sounded all _serious_. 'Grimm what's going on? You're kind of wierding me out here...'

'Why'd you take the battle suit?'

_Wham_. The question hit her hard and fast, like a sucker punch. So he knew already. _After only one flippin' day_. Her heart started pounding and she fought back the urge to start hyperventilating again. 'H...how'd you know?' she said. She thought she'd covered her tracks well - even Jade wasn't talking and she was the only other person who knew... for sure.

Grimm was looking at her, and seeming disappointed. 'As big a help as the suit can be, I knew it could be an even bigger pain if it fell into the wrong hands.' he said, and he held up a blonde hair. 'I'm glad it wasn't that Credible flake, or some other dingus who swiped it, but the question is... _why_?'

Rhonda looked at the betraying hair. _'Aw geez...' _ she thought. _'I left a hair? Amateur hour, here I come...'_ She bit her lip, her mind flashing backwards to the night when she had 'secret borrowed' the suit.

_After her night-time outing as Poxorza, Rhonda stood in her sanctorum, fretting and pulling at her hair. She knew time was of the essence - Grimm would be back soon from his own outing. But she also knew she couldn't just put the suit back - that wouldn't be enough. Not for a sleuth like Grimm. 'Jade's right.' she said out loud. 'Sooner or later Grimm's gonna figure out I used it. Oooh, Rueful what'll I say to him?'_

_ Rueful only shrugged and shook his head helplessly._

_ Rhonda felt panic setting in. Every tick of the clock was precious. She found herself thinking, 'What would Grimm do?' And of course, she knew the answer. Misdirection and distraction. Grimm would eventually find out she had used the suit. So she had to make him think she had used it in a way that he wouldn't mind._

_ 'Distract Grimm?' she said with a moan. 'But he's like, all about focus! How do I distract him? What in the world can a girl do to distract a...?' Then her eyes lit up. 'Rueful - go upstairs and get my camera - fast!'_

_ Rueful still looked confused, but darted towards the house to obey._

Rhonda sighed and heaved her book bag from her shoulder, digging in it for a folder. She looked up at Grimm as she fished out a photo. 'Well... I was saving this for a kind of a graduation present.' she said. 'But... here.'

Grimm took the photo, still looking suspiciously at Rhonda, but after a glance down at the picture, his attention was completely thrown. It showed Rhonda in her sanctorum, dressed in the battle-suit, and striking a classic pin-up girl pose.

Rhonda blushed furiously while Grimm's eyes remained riveted to the photo. 'I'd have gotten the suit back sooner,' she said. 'But it took like forever to set up a camera there, and Rueful kept fiddling with the timer...'

Grimm still didn't say anything. For nearly a full minute, the silence stretched out until Rhonda was almost in a panic. _'He's not buying it...'_ she thought. _'He is so not buying it...'_

'Ah... _woah_.' he said at last, not looking up. 'So... can I _keep_ this?'

Rhonda's face got even redder. 'You _like_ it?' she said. She had always been self-conscious about her looks, always comparing herself to the girls on the cheer squad. When taking the photos of herself wearing the suit, she'd felt ridiculous, wondering if super-models felt the same way when posing for magazines that were sure to be gawked at by thousands of guys.

'Uh... _yeah_.' said Grimm, looking up at last with a rather sheepish grin. 'I always wondered how you'd look in the suit - but I thought it would sound _weird_ if I asked you to try it on. Maybe I should have pressed Zorpox to make you one...'

'Just don't let your Mom see it.' said Rhonda. She felt relieved that Grimm seemed satisfied, but now she felt even hotter around the collar as Grimm's eyes took on a hungry gleam while he stared at the photo. 'She'd totally kill me. Oh, and that goes double for Lynn and Mim!'

'Keep this secret? Are you _kidding_?' said Grimm. 'I'm making this into a T-shirt.'

'_You... are... not!'_ Rhonda screamed, making a lunge for the photo. But Grimm neatly spun in place, holding the picture away from her and using his body to block her. She made a few attempts to duck around him, but he kept sidling and shifting, keeping the photo out of her reach.

At that moment, the door opened and Mrs. Probable stepped in, looking furious. 'House... _rules_.' she said icily.

Rhonda flushed beet red, realizing how this must look. Both of them pressed close, practically wrestling, her arms draped over his neck, trying to reach the photo... thank goodness he was facing _away_ from her. At once she stepped away, almost falling over in her haste.

'Rhonda, I keep telling you, if you want answers to your homework, you can't just _copy_ mine.' said Grimm, staring at Rhonda with a pointed look. The instant his mother had come in, he had smoothly turned the picture so the blank side was out, then slipped it into one of his own school folders. 'Mom - relax.' he said, looking at his mother. He turned his head from side to side, displaying his cheeks and neck. 'See? No lipstick, no nothing. It's not what you think.'

Mrs. Probable sniffed, her eyes narrowed. 'Nevertheless, I'm sure Rhonda is needed back home. Grimm - you may escort her to the door.' And she remained at the entrance to Grimm's room, her eyes on both of them as they trooped silently out and up the stairs towards the front door.

Grimm didn't risk a good night kiss, but as he showed her out, he paused at the front door, holding her hand. 'You said Rueful was messing with the timer,' he said low under his breath. 'Does that mean you have... _other _shots?'

Rhonda's face remained red all the way home. _'That worked a little too well.'_ she thought.

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

On board BattleSkaar's flagship, Maze was being led through a tunnel-like room. Every square inch of each wall seemed to be carry a device of some kind. His many years of subsisting alone in the wild made this quite outside his experience, and he squirmed. Each step seemed like a descent from the natural world into something truly alien and terrifying.

BattleSkaar looked at him appraisingly. 'Obviously, you would be unable to handle equipment that has any... _heft_.' he said dryly. 'Fortunately for you, Lorwardians are masters at miniaturization. Take your pick of any device, though you would do wisely to restrict yourself to weapons that will compensate for your disadvantages.'

Maze squinted at the vast array of devices, baffled. 'I don't understand _any_ of this.' he said. 'If you insist on making me carry your technology, you could at least explain what I am seeing.'

'Allow me to make suggestions, then.' said BattleSkaar, and he picked up a module that had a rounded object embedded in it that looked like a trackball. 'You are disadvantaged in that it takes you time to use your shadow control. This Attack Drone should compensate nicely. Our warriors normally wear this as a bracelet, but for you, it may serve as a pack.' He tapped a button on the side of the Attack Drone, and an orb popped out from the housing. It darted to and fro in the air with a low, humming sound. 'When activated, it will move independently, and fire energy blasts at nearby enemies. You may use the accompanying eyepiece to direct it towards specific areas or distant locations. It's not powerful enough to rely on, but using it at strategic moments should distract enemies, and gain you enough time to employ your shadow abilities.'

He hit another control, and the drone zipped neatly back into its housing. He handed the drone pack carelessly to Maze as he moved on, and Maze grunted beneath the pack's weight. BattleSkaar picked up a pair of gauntlets and held them out. 'Take these as well.' he said.

Maze winced, still struggling to hold up the pack. Finally he let it fall with a thud. 'I cannot carry this equipment.' he said, frustrated.

'Hold out your hands.' BattleSkaar growled impatiently.

Maze hesitated, but did as ordered. BattleSkaar slid one gauntlet over each hand. They were far too large for him, and Maze was about to say so, but suddenly the intricate web of metal plates that made up the gauntlets whirred, and they seemed to unfold, shrink, resize, and then clamp snugly around his hands. He started, but twitched his fingers experimentally. There was some stiffness, but for the most part, the gauntlets seemed quite flexible.

'These are gravity manipulators.' BattleSkaar said. 'The controls on your left gauntlet will lighten everything in your immediate vicinity. The controls on the right gauntlet will make things _heavier_.' He paused, smirking faintly. 'Don't use _that_ one.'

Maze scowled, but tapped a glowing blue bar on the left gauntlet, and immediately felt the sensation of weight decreasing. He stooped and lifted the pack, and found that he was able to manage it. 'Amazing.' he breathed. 'Why do not all of your warriors use this so they can bear heavier burdens?'

'They normally use them to _increase_ their burdens as a training device, to make themselves stronger.' he answered. 'Among our people, using the function to lighten burdens is considered a sign of weakness.'

Maze scowled again, but then his eyes fell on a device shaped like a thin, elongated egg. At one end there was a hole, and at the other end was a hooked protrusion like a claw. For some reason, he felt drawn to it. 'What is this one?' he said, pointing.

'Ah.' said BattleSkaar, noting Maze's interest. 'The Kinetic Emitter. It fires a focused beam of powerful force.'

Maze shook his head, not understanding.

'Think of it as a long distance _punch_.' BattleSkaar said. And he lifted the device, which fit neatly into his palm, and aimed it down the corridor. Maze did not see anything, but the heavy metal door let out a loud, thumping _clang_, and a sizable dent appeared, as if it has been struck by a battering ram. 'The range is not outstanding, but if your enemies are few and at medium distance, it can be extremely effective.' He held the emitter over Maze's staff, and Maze watched as it seemed to unfold and then reform over the clawed tip, as if it had always been there.

BattleSkaar nodded. 'Now - you will need _practice_.'

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

Soon, Maze found himself led into a wide circular arena. There were doorways at either end, and glowing lines on the floor, similar to a sport field. Maze now bore the staff and the gauntlets. The pack was on his back now, and he touched the control on his gauntlet, feeling it's weight lessen until it was as if he were not wearing the pack at all.

BattleSkaar was at the side of the arena, and Maze fidgeted uncomfortably. 'What am I expected to do here?' he said.

BattleSkaar smirked. '_Survive_.' he said, then he clapped his hands together with a loud _crack_.

Maze blanched as the door at the other end of the arena hissed open. A heavily armored Lorwardian strode through. Even compared to the other Lorwardians, this one seemed huge. The floor beneath him trembled as he stomped forward, a predatory sneer on his lips. He held a heavy mace, which he wielded as easily as if it were a conductor's baton.

'Artill'ryDuel - you expressed boredom recently, asking for more dangerous assignments. Do you think you can defeat _one_ human, who is armed with our technology?' said BattleSkaar idly.

Atill'ryDuel didn't wait for an answer. He charged forward like a bull elephant, roaring at the top of his lungs.

Maze panicked. The arena was too small, and his opponent too close to have any hope of raising his shadow barrier in time. He raised his staff. He sent the force beam straight at his approaching enemy. There was a loud _thunk_, and Artill'ryDuel winced. But even though his charge was stalled, the blast did not seem to harm him. He withstood the blow and pushed forward.

Maze _felt_ Artill'ryDuel's strength, beating back the Kinetic Emitter's energy. He even felt himself being pushed backwards as he strove to keep his footing. Artill'ryDuel grinned a mouth of sharpened teeth as he powered through, getting closer to Maze. 'I'll break you like a _twig_, human!' he snarled.

Maze gritted his own teeth. He was already nearly pinned to the back of the arena. Any attempt to duck past Artill'ryDuel would end with him being caught and dragged back. He reached back and tapped a control on his pack, and the drone spiraled out and up.

Artill'ryDuel caught a blast almost right on his nose, and he winced. The drone whizzed about him like a fly, sending out stinging bursts. 'You are only making me angrier, human!' he shouted. Maze did not answer, he seemed to be muttering to himself, keeping his staff trained on Artill'ryDuel. The drone flitted across Artill'ryDuel's line of sight and he broke eye contact with Maze for a moment, his eyes following the drone's path. He used his heavy mace to block the drone's shots. But in the split seconds he had taken his eyes off of Maze, he vanished.

The emitter's force beam had shut off, and Artill'ryDuel stumbled forward. He struck with his mace where Maze had been, but his weapon slammed into the metal floor. Maze was gone. He struck wildly left and right, trying to anticipate where Maze might have ducked to. 'Show yourself, coward!' he roared.

The drone kept whizzing about, sending bursts at him. Almost idly, Artill'ryDuel deflected them with his mace. 'Sooner or later, I'll find you.' he growled. He squinted, looking over the whole arena, and noted a patch of space that seemed much darker, even though it was directly under a light. 'Pathetic human.' he said. 'I know you like to hide in darkness - you think I can be fooled so easily?' And with another roar he leaped at the darkened patch, letting his mace fall.

Maze flinched as the mace struck hard against his shadow barrier. He felt it give a little - Artill'ryDuel's strength was truly frightening. The Lorwardian was striking hard, over and over, filling the air with his battle cries. The shadow barrier held, and Artill'ryDuel paused, puffing. He circled the barrier, and his toothy smile returned. 'If I can't get through your little wall,' he said. 'Then perhaps I can dig _under_ it!' And he started smashing the floor at the edge of the barrier, hammering it with his mace. Heavy dents sprang up, and the glowing lines that ran beneath that section of the floor sparked and went out. Metal fragments flew as Artill'ryDuel continued his attack without relenting.

Maze frowned. He saw BattleSkaar, who had not moved since the duel began. He simply stood there, watching the proceedings with his arms folded. And Maze knew it would do no good to have BattleSkaar call off the contest. Artill'ryDuel was all but ignoring the drone. Maze's eyes flicked to the gauntlets. There was no point to increasing the gravity around them. He would feel it much more keenly than his opponent. And Artill'ryDuel had already made a sizeable hole in the floor. Soon he might burst through, or simply reach an arm inside to seize him.

He set the left gauntlet to its highest, then dropped the shadow barrier. Artill'ryDuel lurched, but righted himself and reached out to grasp the shadow shaman. Until Maze leaped.

BattleSkaar raised a brow at this unexpected use of the gravity dampener. With his body now feather light, Maze leaped high into the air, soaring over Artill'ryDuel, who looked up in surprise. Maze held his staff point downward, taking careful aim as he arced close to the roof of the arena.

The kinetic beam struck Artill'ryDuel square on the chin. The _crack_ of the blow echoed loudly. Maze landed softly on his feet, whirling around to face his enemy again. Artill'ryDuel had stumbled, but after a pause, he rose up and turned slowly around. He stared towards Maze for a moment, but his eyes were unfocused. Then with a muffled grunt, his body pitched forward and landed with a crash on the floor.

Maze panted and gasped as BattleSkaar applauded softly. 'Very well.' said the Lorwardian commander. 'We can resume operations, I believe.'

_Coming Soon:_

_Chapter 4  
>Finals<em>

_Author: Rhonda doing pin-up shots, and Maze techs up? Things are certainly changing. Now that Maze has new allies and new weapons, what will this bode for Team Probable, and the whole world? Graduation looms closer - but as everyone knows, you can't graduate until you've passed your final exams..._

_Keep reading more more updates as we answer questions that the TV series left conspicuously unanswered!_


	5. Chapter 4: Final Exams

All Things Probable IV  
>Graduation<p>

Set in the world of Disney's Kim Possible

by Greg Fisk (aka "Slyrr")  
>Kim Possible is ownedcopyrighted by Disney and its affiliates, etc. etc.

Chapter 4  
>Final Exams<p>

'For the last time, I didn't do anything to Killigan's stupid lawn!'

It was a Thursday. After school, Grimm had tracked down Dr. Drakken. Grimm and Rhonda had made a quick trip on the bike, and arranged for a meeting in his lair. Drakken looked harried and angry, even as they had arrived to question him. Shego, as always, was lurking in the background behind him. She had been even harder to spot than usual, because her green outfit had blended in so well against a background of branches and leaves.

The lair was in a curious state. The structure was largely intact, but Drakken was boxing up various things as if he was in a hurry to leave. Grimm could only guess it was because of the plants. There were shrub-like vines everywhere, with flowers blossoming at the ends of each tendril. They had overgrown everything, even the lab desk and computer consoles.

'Can anyone verify that?' said Grimm, keeping his eyes fixed on Dr. Drakken, and trying to act as if the condition of the lair was not distracting him. 'Killigan's pretty ticked off about it, and you _do_ have the tech to pull it off. A hovercar and a death ray would be the ideal tools...'

'Nnnn!' Drakken grated, his eyes were narrowed, his teeth and fists clenched. 'Does it _look_ like I have time to go around torching people's yards? As you can see, I'm having trouble _keeping_ plants from growing, never mind burning them up!'

Unlike Grimm, Rhonda made no secret that she was looking around and gaping at the foliage. Even on their air approach to the lair, she had seen gigantic branches and flowers stretching out through the roof and windows. Only after Drakken brought up the plants did Grimm mention them himself. 'Trouble with that hydroponic formula...?' he said, off-handedly.

Shego let out a snort from her chair as she filed her nails. 'You could say that.' she muttered loudly.

Drakken growled, his face turning purple. A tic was working in his face, his teeth gritted. 'I've had about enough of your _lip_, Shego!' he rasped. His fists were balled up and trembling in his anger. Suddenly a mane of yellow petals erupted from the collar of his neck with a comical _pop_.

Shego burst out laughing. 'Man, that just _isn't_ getting any less funny!' she said.

'Oh _do_ shut up!' Drakken hissed.

'Covering the world with posies, and then turning _into_ a posie so you could be their king or something - was that your plan to take over the world?'

'Nnnn-_Gnnnnn_!' Drakken shouted, his hands becoming a fluttering blur of motion as he tore the petals out. 'They were supposed to have Venus fly-trap mouths and be _evil_!'

'Uh huh.' Shego drawled with an idle smirk.

Both Grimm and Rhonda had mirror like expressions, with eyebrows raised, but their faces poker stiff. Only Rhonda's lips momentarily twitched into a lopsided smile before she got it under control. 'So...' Grimm started, but Shego interrupted.

'Can it, smooth talker.' she said, waving her hand. 'I mean it'd be fun to take credit for this, but the day Killigan's lawn got ganked was the same day Possible came here and greened up the joint. It couldn't have been the doc - even _he_ wouldn't pull a gag that lame.'

Drakken yanked out the last of his neck petals with a sound like plucking the string of a ukulele. '_Thank_ you, Shego.' he said with an irritated grimace which said he was anything but thankful. 'And ever since then, I've been prepping to move operations to a different lair. The plants have wormed their way into the electrical systems and all the ductwork - obviously I can't take over the world from here!'

Grimm nodded, and seemed to be satisfied. It was true that if Drakken _had_ done it, he would probably be bragging about it. Or at the least, Shego would be spilling the beans to taunt him about pulling such a juvenile prank. 'Well - sorry to bother you then.' he said, 'We'll just...'

'_Leaf_ you to it!' said Rhonda, leaning in. Drakken glared and Shego snorted.

'Good one, blondie.' she said.

Drakken looked like a vein was about to pop in his forehead, and Grimm spoke quickly. 'Let us know if you hear anything - Killigan is offering a reward for anyone who leads him to the perps.' Drakken shrugged and nodded, seeming to deflate a little on hearing the word_ reward_.

They had tried a couple more leads with other villains, even Dementor, though it didn't seem to be his kind of scheme. After the visit to Drakken's lair, Rhonda had let Grimm do all the talking. Each lead petered out, and eventually Grimm seemed frustrated by the lack of clues. But Rhonda had her mind on other matters, like a secret meeting she'd planned in Jade's house later that evening...

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

'Come on Jade, how much _longerrrrrrrrrrrrr_?' Rhonda said in her whiniest voice, while bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet.

Jade pushed up her lab goggles, her eyes and lips fighting to converge on her nose as she scowled. Finally she looked at the ceiling and shook her head. 'Yeesh, maybe it's just as well I never had a sister...' she muttered.

It was now a couple of days after Rhonda's first outing as Poxorza. Rhonda had used the suit once more, and this time Grimm winked and nodded at the absence of his battle suit. She had gone out and foiled another robbery attempt with Jade's help over the communicator, but after the outing, she knew she wouldn't be able to get away with the ruse of taking photos of herself in the suit to distract Grimm for much longer. She needed a more practical solution - namely, her _own_ costume.

Rhonda had made sketches, and had glorious visions of how cool it would look, and had gone to Jade for help in getting it made. So when Jade leaned up with a sigh and said, 'Ok, finished.', Rhonda leaned in eagerly. She held it up, and her eager expression froze into more of an appraising wince.

Jade looked on as Rhonda tilted it back and forth in her hands for a minute or two. 'Problem?' she said at last.

Rhonda bit her lip. 'I donno...' she said. 'I thought it would look... ya know, _awesome_.'

Jade shrugged. 'I made it the way you _drew_ it.' she said, sounding slightly nettled. 'And it wasn't easy. One - I'm not a tailor, I had to get dad's house seamstress to work on it. Two, going from concept to finished product in a day or so? You oughtta be thankful it was done at all. Third...'

'All right, I get it!' said Rhonda. 'Sorry. Well, maybe we can tweak it over time. I mean, even Wonder Woman keeps changing her costume...'

'Besides - how can you be sure it's not awesome if you're not even _trying it on_ yet...?' said Jade rotating one hand on its wrist.

'Ooh! Right!' and Rhonda ducked behind a decorative dressing screen, the costume whipping behind her as she dragged it.

Jade sighed, listening to the sounds of fumbling and thumping for a few moments. 'Come on - we're all girls here...' she muttered impatiently.

'Yeah, but with a costume, you gotta have 'dramatic reveal'...' she answered. And a few moments later, she stepped out from behind the screen.

Jade whistled. 'Hmm... not bad.' she said.

Rhonda was unrecognizable in a black form-fitting body suit. It had grey pads at the elbows, knees and shoulders, and matching gloves and boots. Her face was covered with a mask that had goggle-like eyes that were a pink, reflective color. Her belt with dual hip pouches was also pink, as well as a stylized stripe that extended from her upper shoulder, flaring out at the chest, and tapering back down below her waist. Rhonda's blonde hair was totally hidden underneath a head sock. Instead, there was a fringe of shorter, pink colored hair attached to a false back.

'So... what's with the _pink_?' said Jade.

Behind the costume, Jade could only discern Rhonda's embarrassment from the sheepish shrugging of her shoulders. 'Cause I'm a girl... and... girls like pink?' she said, her voice also disguised through a breathing strip over the front of her face.

Jade hit her with a deadpan expression. 'Don't be so stereotypical.' she said. 'How's the mask feel?'

Rhonda splayed her hands over her head, feeling here and there. 'Pretty good.' she said. 'I can't feel any pinching... and the breathing strip's keeping fog out of the eyes...'

'Good - that'll be important out in the field.' said Jade. 'Foggy eyes in the middle of a battle could get you clobbered. And we don't want you taking your mask off if it gets uncomfortable - it's only a matter of time before you're caught on camera, with all the security systems people have these days.'

Rhonda had gone to a large mirror mounted on the wall and was looking at herself, striking various heroic poses. 'Wow...' she said. 'If it weren't _me_ wearing this, I'd have no idea who it was!' She ran her hand through the fake pink hair. 'Still don't see why I had to do the hair though...'

Jade sniffed. 'Because _plot armor_ is the only thing keeping everyone from knowing who Batgirl is.' she said disdainfully. 'Stupid bimbo - just letting her natural hair color spill out - like everyone in Gotham is a red-head...'

'Bat _who_?'

Jade sighed. 'Anyhoo, are you sure you don't want some kind of symbol on the chest or something? Like _P _for _Poxorza_?'

Rhonda looked down at her navel. 'That's what the stripe was, when I sketched it.' she said. 'But I changed it because... well, the letter _P_ just doesn't... I mean...' she trailed off, lamely.

'Yeah I guess it wouldn't be too intimidating if you had a big ol' _P _on your costume...' she smirked.

'_Jade_!'

'Aesthetics aside,' Jade went on, still smirking, 'The costume should make up for some of your limitations.'

'Limitations?' said Rhonda.

Jade shrugged. 'We didn't have enough tridyplatinum tungsten poly-alloy left to make a _full_ battle suit.' she said. 'I could only make a partial. It has some elements that the battle suit has, but not all. Besides - your bear mojo makes some of it unnecessary. So I tweaked things to make up for some of the deficits between your powers, and the suit's.'

Rhonda was flexing her fingers and looking at the gloves and boots, both of which had glowing patches on them, similar to Grimm's battle-suit - except they were pink. 'So what can it do?'

'The full body shield is out.' said Jade. 'But you can use the gloves to activate a smaller shield that only covers in front of you. Just the thing to keep opponents off you until you can recite the bear chant and turn on your toughness.'

Rhonda spread out both her hands in front of her, and a miniature pink dome about three feet in diameter flared out in front of her. 'Coolness!' she said. 'Guess that makes me an agent _shield_...!'

Jade winced and continued. 'But you'll still need to watch your back so you don't get blindsided, like what happened with those muggers. The suit's self-heal should work OK. And the gloves have the grapple lines installed, just like on Grimm's.'

'Good thing I had the joint pads put on.' said Rhonda. 'I get tired of using my knees as a brake pad.'

'So when are you planning to test it out?'

Rhonda didn't answer - she just stood there looking at Jade, unreadable behind her mask.

Jade glanced between her and the window, where the sun had gone down and night was falling. 'What - _now_?'

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

Rhonda had left Rueful at home. She told him to chill in her sanctorum, explaining that the disguise would be pointless if she was caught on camera with a weasel in tow. No matter how good a costume she might have, she was the only person in town (that she knew of) who had a pet weasel. So it would be too much of a giveaway for 'Poxorza' to have one too. Rueful looked disappointed, but seemed to understand.

'Self heal, small shield, stealth...' Rhonda muttered to herself, swinging between buildings. She wanted to make sure she had a firm grasp of what the suit could do, and what it _couldn't _do. 'Self heal, small shield, stealth. No weapon, no boosters. No weapon, no boosters...'

She landed with a grunt at the edge of the cornice on one of the taller buildings in downtown Riddleton. She wondered if she looked cool from a distance, leaning over like a gargoyle to survey the city.

'Made it O.K.?' Jade's voice piped in through an ear headset.

Rhonda flinched. 'Yeesh Jade!' she said. 'It sounds like you're right here next to me, don't freak me out like that!'

'Sorry.' she said, her voice sinking to a whisper. 'But the suit's stealth mode is only effective for a minute or two. I may be able to fix it over time, but for now you have to pay attention to the charge indicator, and duck into someplace quiet when it gets low.'

'Gotcha.' Rhonda muttered. 'But I had to use it to get downtown. I can't line swing in suburbia!'

'Well you're in luck tonight.' said Jade. 'If you think being able to chase crooks is _lucky_. I just heard over police band that some goons knocked over a department store and they're heading east in a grey four-door sedan. The police are in pursuit, but the perps have got a huge lead. If _someone_ could head them off and slow them down...'

'Where should I be?'

'Scoot north a couple blocks and they should intercept you in a couple minutes.'

Rhonda started swinging between buildings. 'You're kind of getting into this guide thing.' she panted between leaps.

'Well sure.' said Jade. 'I could be your, like _oracle_ or something.'

'My _whuh_?'

'Later - you're there! Got a plan?'

As Rhonda vaulted down to street level, she found herself at a loss. It was a dingy, deserted looking block with mostly empty streets. A few metal lampposts with dingy yellow lights buzzed on either side of the pavement. 'Uh... how do I stop a speeding car?' she said.

Jade spluttered. 'What're you asking _me_ for?' she said. 'You're the one who wanted to go out and bust up heists - well they're gonna be there any second - _think_ of something!'

At that moment a car came screeching around the corner just two blocks away. The drivers were gunning the engine hard, and they would be past and gone in no time. She didn't feel very much like throwing herself in _front_ of the oncoming car. Even with the Great Bear's protective power, her mind rebelled at the thought. She looked wildly around at the approaching car, the surrounding buildings, the lampposts...

The car was only one block away and approaching fast. Rhonda focused and started chanting.

_ Omahkkiaayowa, Nitohpoksiiyikitapiiyi...!_

To her surprise, she felt the mark on her shoulder flaring up at once. Always in the past, she had needed to complete the chant at least twice before feeling any kind of effect. But she did not pause to think about it. The feeling of strength was on her, and she grasped the nearest lamppost firmly with both hands.

With a grunting heave, she wrenched it out of its housing. The lamp sparked and went out at once, and she felt a tug of resistance, like pulling a weed in the garden. She heard the roaring of the car's engine and saw the streak of glinting metal on the hood and windshield...

With a quick pivot and turn, she brought the lamppost pole down hard like a hammer. The hood of the car crumpled and the engine gave an instantaneous, but loud squeal of grinding protest as it burst inside the engine block. The momentum of the car kept it going forward and it nearly flipped over, but with no functioning engine, it only managed to careen another thirty feet before coming to a halt at the next intersection.

Rhonda ran forward and looked through the windows into the car, worried that she might have hurt someone. The car hood was totally mangled, but the rest of the car looked to be in good shape except that all the windows were badly cracked. Large, pillow-like orbs on the driver and passenger side told her the airbags had deployed, and she heard soft moans from the occupants.

Breathing a mental sigh of relief, she circled to the window of the driver side. 'Looks like you guys just flunked your _cash_ course in robbery!' she said, feeling giddy over her successful ploy.

The driver, who was wearing a ski mask, lifted his head from the car's air-bag. 'I donno who you are...' he said groggily. 'But your one-liners _suck_...' and he slumped back onto the airbag.

Rhonda spluttered. 'Oh yeah? Well... what do _you_ know?' But the unconscious thug didn't answer. 'Yeah that's I _thought_!' she sniffed. She reached out and squeezed hard on the door frame, bending the metal and crimping it shut, then did the same to the other side.

She started as Jade's voice sounded in her ear. 'Cops'll be there in about a minute.' she said. 'Time to book, _Poxorza_.'

Rhonda nodded and used the grapple line to soar up to the ledge of the nearest building, then sprinted across the roof, heading back across town to her house. _'Quick, but not a bad night's work!'_ she thought. _'But maybe I need my own bike...'_ And she was already turning thoughts towards asking Jade if she had any spare M.R.T's in her lab that she could use.

As such, she did not even notice as two burly figures, dressed in grey, stepped out from a dark alley across the street from where the wrecked car was sitting. The men watched as the police arrived and muttered in confusion at the wreckage and the bizarre scene. They started setting up the Jaws of Life to extricate the struggling thieves from the car. One of the men in grey was hefting a small camera while the other shook his head. '_Daaaah...' _he said quietly.

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

All in all, Rhonda felt pretty good about the previous night. She knew missions with Grimm would keep her from doing 'hero' stuff regularly, but it was probably just as well that she didn't go out secret crime-fighting on any predictable basis. She was already feeling less restless and moody than she had been over the previous weeks. As such, she was more cheery at school as well - at least until she saw the signs on the bulletin boards.

_FINAL EXAMS TODAY_

'Oh... I forgot about those.' she winced.

'Yep - the climax of everything we've been doing here for the last four years. Or so they say.' said Grimm, walking beside her down the hall. He had a larger-than-normal amount of books tucked beneath his arms.

Rhonda checked her class schedule. Instead of the normal lessons and homework, each class period was to be devoted to taking the exam for that class. 'Why do they make us take _all_ the exams on one day?' she whined. 'Every other school kind of spreads it out over the week...'

Grimm shrugged. 'Because it's Riddleton.' he said. 'They figure if we aren't ready for the tests by now, we never will be. Plus it's Friday and they want to get the grading at least mostly done over the weekend. But look on the bright side - most of next week before graduation will be downtime.'

The school bell clattered obnoxiously through the air.

'Hoo boy...' said Rhonda, gritting her teeth.

Grimm put a hand on her shoulder. 'Don't sweat it.' he said, though he himself looked a bit nervous. 'I'll see you at lunch. Don't let Darken rattle you.' And he moved off down the hallway towards his first class, vanishing into the press of other students.

Rhonda heaved a sigh, feeling somehow alone and forlorn in the middle of the crowded hall, before turning and making her own way through the milling students.

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

Grimm squeezed into the desk in his science class. The teacher, a man with huge glasses that magnified his eyes like a squid, was poised at his desk with a stack of papers. The other students kept filing in, and Grimm kept rattling off all the materials he had studied in his mind. He kept textbooks open in front of him, intending to go over material until the very last moment.

At last, the bell rang again, and there was a rustle as the stragglers hastened to their desks.

'Pens out, books _away_.' said the teacher, rising up. He began filing up and down the rows, handing exam papers to each student in turn. 'Standard Riddleton procedures are in place - and allow me a moment to inform all the ne'er-do-wells who hacked into my computer that you stole a _fake_. The exams I am handing out now are randomized to each student, and _nothing_ at all like the copies I posted to ferret out the cheaters.'

Grimm paused one moment to glance aside at the desk of Blythe William. He was fairly well known among the students for constantly trying to outsmart the teachers and cheat on the tests. He did it partly to try and get good grades for himself, and partly to try and sell answers to other students. At the moment, he had a pale, frozen look on his face and Grimm caught him glancing at his wrist beneath a loose, long sleeve.

Grimm allowed himself a smirk. _'Serves you right.' _he thought. _'If you had sunk half as much effort into studying as you did in trying to cheat, you'd be ready for this test. Good luck trying to explain this to the suckers who bought answers from you.'_

'You have one full hour to complete the test - _go_.' said the teacher, and he clicked a stopwatch in his hand before returning to his desk. Grimm craned his neck momentarily to the back of the room, where a pair of fake house plants rested atop a set of tall shelves that stretched across the whole wall. The shelves were full of books, but half way through the semester, Grimm had noted that these plants were added to the shelf tops and left there to the point where the students no longer noticed them.

But Grimm had noticed, and he knew that a small nanny-cam had been hidden in the foliage of each plant, just the other day. _'Get us used to the plants by leaving them there a while, then in with the exam spy-cams.'_ he thought. _'Nice. One might think they were worried about cheating.'_

But the scratching of pencils snapped his mind back to himself and the exam lying in front of him. Four sections - one devoted to multiple choice, one to essay answers, one to true/false, and the last a smattering of all three. He raised his pencil and began to read through the questions...

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

In Rhonda's Earth Science class, she was looking over her own exam papers. _'Print out NAME?'_ she thought, her teeth chattering. _'Why do they always start off with the hard ones?'_

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

And so it went all morning, all the way up to lunch. Most of the students were too wrung out from the testing to do more than get their meals, eat, and have a few moments to complain about how tough it all was. Grimm and Rhonda didn't talk much over their food. Even Donnie Stoneport didn't bother showing up to snark at them - he was eating while keeping hunched over text books to get in some last second cramming.

The last class and exam of the day eventually came. Grimm managed to get to his history class a bit early. He took out his communicator and started going over his grades for the whole year and comparing them to his Freshman, Sophomore and Junior year grades. _'Nice hand.'_ he thought. _'All aces.'_ But then he paused and frowned. He'd worked hard, and there was nothing wrong with his grades that he could see. Not a thing. Which meant...

He did some math, looking back and forth over all his grade sheets, and shook his head. _'The climax of everything we've been doing the last four years...'_ he thought. The bell rang, and the History teacher started handing out the exams. While the students surrounding him at their desks hunched over their papers and began writing, Grimm looked doubtfully around at them, then tapped his pencil on the multiple choice bubbles for question #1...

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

When the bell rang at the end of the day, most of the Senior class were too worn out to even cheer or be grateful. They shuffled to their bikes or cars, still hunched as if bent over exam papers. The next week would give them their exam results, and determine how (and _if_) they would be graduating.

Any hopes the Seniors had that they could skip out next week were dashed when Ms. Darken decreed that any student found absent next week would have to make up the time in Summer School, and would not be allowed to graduate with the other students.

'What a slave driver!' Rhonda whined, examining the slip of paper on which the announcement was made. 'We just had finals - classes are _over_. All we'll be doing next week is winding down and decorating for Graduation. We don't need to _be_ here for that like a regular school day - why can't we just phone it in?'

After a day's hard graft at exams, Grimm was still feeling in a kind of 'testing' mood. 'Well - you know Darken.' he said. 'Why would she do this?'

'Because she's the principal, and because she's a joyless battle-axe, and she hates us because we're young and cool.' Rhonda grumbled as they made their way to the bike.

'Uh huh. And...?'

Rhonda furrowed her brow. Now that her initial gripe answer was done, she started to actually think. 'Because... she doesn't want us to get lazy in the last week?'

'Yep.' said Grimm. 'And I think she wants to see how many students have learned to come to school without lessons and tests as the motivator. Some kind of '_are you ready for the real world_' thing.'

Rhonda thought back to what Darken had said to her the other day. _Graduation is about getting ready for what happens after graduation_. 'Yeah, that sounds like the kind of junk she'd pull.'

'But on the plus side, we've got this weekend Darken-free at least.'

'So it's another _free_ night?' said Rhonda hopefully. She started going over ideas of how she might sneak downtown for another outing as Poxorza.

'Not exactly.' he winced. 'We still need to hunt down Killigan's vandal. I admit, I'm feeling stumped on this one, and I don't like it. All the people with the tech to pull it off don't have a motive, and all the people with a motive don't have the tech.'

And so Rhonda sighed her way through an hour at Grimm's place. She started feeling a bit resentful, because it was work that she couldn't help with. It was more Jade's cup of tea, sorting through electronic reports and media communications for clues. She wound up kicking her heels while Jade and Grimm bickered about different possibilities and scenarios, trying to narrow in on who the perp might have been. Finally out of sheer boredom, Rhonda piped in.

'Well, what kind of symbol is it?'

Grimm only half-glanced away from the computer screen. 'Symbol - what are you talking about?'

'I mean, the burns were a big symbol on the grass. Maybe it means something.'

Grimm turned and looked at her, his expression blank. Then he whipped back to the screen. 'Jade is this _true_?'

Jade's mouth was hanging open. 'Uhhh... I donno.' and she turned and started typing madly on one of her keyboards. 'All the pictures we were shown were taken at ground level... hang on, I'll see if there are any shots from higher up...'

For a few moments, all was quiet while Jade searched. Then her eyes got wider, and her jaw drooped even more. 'Was _this_ what is looked like?' And she flashed up a shot of a wide expanse of grass with a huge, charred section.

Rhonda leaned in and examined. 'Yeah, that's what I saw at Killigan's when we were airborne.'

'Why didn't you _say_ anything?' said Grimm, sounding a little put out.

Rhonda glared. 'I _tried_ - you _shushed_ me because you wanted to check the radar!'

Grimm looked like he was about to retort, but couldn't think of anything. 'Well... good call taking a shot of it from the air.' he said.

'Uh, that _wasn't_ from Killigan's isle.' Jade piped in. 'This is a shot from a country club golf course near the Middleton Space Center.'

Grimm blinked. 'There's _more_ lawns that got hit?'

Jade nodded. 'A _lot_ more. I just went over some more news reports, and there are sites all over the globe that are showing similar damage.' She began quickly cycling through several images, each one showing a large field or expanse of grass with the same huge shape burned onto it. 'It's mostly large stuff, like golf courses and farm fields.' she went on. 'But a few fields near to large cities have been hit too.'

Grimm was quietly regarding each photo. 'The same thing, over and over.' he muttered. 'It looks like... some kind of _bird_. What does it mean?'

Jade shrugged. 'No idea. I'm running the shape through image recognition software, but it doesn't conform to any known insignias, past or present. It could be there's a new kid on the super-villain block and this is his calling card.'

'Bird theme villains...' Grimm said quietly. 'Maybe Killigan just got caught in a crossfire on this one.

Jade, have the Irregulars keep tabs on Aviarius _and_ the Magpie. Alone, neither of them could pull off a global scheme like this. But they might have teamed up with WEE, or some other large group. If it _is_ one of them, have the Irregulars report it.'

'Can do!' Jade chirped, and the screen flashed and went black.

Grimm was scratching his head. 'Can't believe I missed that.' he said. 'I guess when you spend so much time looking at things close up, you miss the _big_ picture.' He looked aside at Rhonda who had her arms folded and still looked sulky. 'Nice catch, hot stuff.' he said.

Despite her annoyance, Rhonda felt her cheeks warming. 'Shut up...' she said softly, but couldn't block the smile from her lips.

Grimm was leaning in for a kiss, but the screen of his computer blipped back on, and Jade was there again. 'Sorry to interrupt.' Jade said with a knowing smirk, 'But you've got an incoming. It's Mr. Matter.'

Grimm's eyes narrowed. 'Wonder what _he_ wants?' he muttered. 'Well, block outgoing video and put him through.'

Jade nodded and blinked off screen again, and in a split second the image was replaced with a man that had flyaway silver hair, and was wearing lab goggles. His white lab coat had an indented black stripe like a stylized letter "M". 'Am I speaking with Team Probable?' he said, leaning and glaring into his webcam so one eye of his goggle lenses was hugely magnified. 'It would be much easier if I could _see_ you.'

'Relax Mr. Matter, it's us.' said Grimm. 'Glad to see you're still in business.'

The retired tycoon turned wannabe super-villain sniffed. 'Yes, but for how much longer?' he said. 'I'm approaching you on a grave _matter_ of... pre-emptive concern.'

'I'm listening.' said Grimm, settling back and tenting his fingers.

Mr. Matter leaned his head closer to the screen. 'I suppose you're aware that a _super-heroine _seems to be setting up shop right _here_ in Riddleton - under our very noses?'

'I heard.' Grimm shrugged. 'Sounds more like an urban legend to me.'

Mr. Matter shook his head. 'I assure you, she's quite real.' he said. 'As soon as I heard the rumors, I dispatched my loyal henchmen, H1 and H2, on spy missions - and they obtained _this_ photo!'

Rhonda gasped and bit her lip as she saw a photo of herself in her new costume.

'Interesting...' said Grimm. 'Looks like she's a big fan of _pink_.'

'I'm rather more concerned with her powers than with her love of _pink_.' said Mr. Matter with a grimace. Then he cycled the screen to show images of Rhonda stopping the car and bending the doors. 'According to H1 and H2, this woman has paranormal strength. As well as a penchant for foiling muggers and thieves. So long as she focuses only on petty crimes, I'm not so concerned. But do-gooders are rarely content with that. I fear it's only a _matter_ of time before she tries to foil my plans for world domination!'

Rhonda was sweating where she sat. She didn't like the way this was going at all. 'Uh... are you sure you want to bother with her?' she said quickly. 'I mean... maybe she doesn't care about you...' she trailed off lamely.

'What?' Mr. Matter huffed. 'I am the deadliest super-villain the world has ever known! How could she not...'

'I think what my partner meant is,' said Grimm, breaking in, 'That your operation is far too...' he hesitated, knowing exactly the extent of Mr. Matter's 'schemes'. '..._sophisticated_ to attract the attention of one lone wolf vigilante.'

Mr. Matter snorted, but fiddled with his collar, looking smug. 'It is true that my superior intellect places my operations far beyond the ability of the average man, or woman, to even notice.' he said importantly. 'A vast web of such devious and subtle intricacy that even the mightiest super-heroes...'

'But... if you're worried about her, we could look into the _matter_.' said Grimm with a smirk. 'For the usual fee, of course.'

Mr. Matter nodded curtly. 'Yes, yes, your _fees_.' he said. 'I would prefer to shut this hero down before she becomes a threat. Find her and _stop_ her, and you'll have your money.' And he shut off the video link.

'All _right_!' said Grimm, turning to Rhonda. 'We get to mess with a super-heroine! It'll be just like that time when you took out Hego in Go City.'

Rhonda sat stricken in her chair. They'd just been hired to catch _herself_. Of all the happenstances, this was perhaps the silliest - and the worst. She'd wanted to keep her closet crime-fighting on the down-low. Now not only had her escapades been brought directly to Grimm's attention - but he was being _paid_ to investigate. She had plenty of first-hand experience with how doggedly determined he could be. _'Oh... hexagonal NUTS!'_ she thought. _'This could wind up being just like the end of Mrs. Doubtfire...'_ And she had crazed visions of having to rapidly change back and forth between costumes to present the farcical illusion to Grimm that she was fighting herself...

'Well, first we have to have Jade look into it.' said Grimm. 'Can't sleuth out her weaknesses if we don't have any intel. Jade - did you get all that?'

Jade blipped back onto the screen. 'Oh yeah - I sure got _that_.' she said, and she was fighting back an obvious smirk.

'What's so funny?' said Grimm.

Jade suppressed a chuckle. 'Ah, you know how Mr. Matter is.' she said. 'Always thinks the world is out to get him when nobody cares...'

'Maybe - but if he pays enough money, we can do anything.' said Grimm. 'Even put a collar on his super-heroine. Think you can track her down?'

Jade snickered. 'Yeah, I'll start combing the police bands.' she said. 'But who knows? This 'super-heroine' is probably just some ditz in a goofy costume...'

'Ya _think_?' Rhonda glared at the screen.

'Looks like she drew the design on a napkin at Bueno Nacho...' Jade said off-handedly.

Rhonda's face flamed red. 'Do tell...' she growled.

'And what's with the _pink_? She might as well wear a matching tutu and carry a magic wand...'

'Guess you'd better get _started_ then.' Rhonda said through gritted teeth.

'Yeah, finding ol' Pinky might take a while.' Jade said, spinning once in her swivel chair. 'I'll buzz you as soon as I come up with anything. Laters!' And the screen went black again.

'Is it just me or is Jade getting more... _flippant_?' Rhonda muttered.

'It's almost Summer.' Grimm answered. 'Might be getting trunky. Anyway, she could be a while coordinating with the Irregulars about the lawn vandals, and finding our super-heroine. In the meantime, we can work out in the training yard to get ready. Wait 'till this vigilante learns she's not the _only_ one in town with a strength buff.'

Rhonda could only wince and nod.

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

Two hours of running gauntlets in the training yard, and they were both looking frazzled. But Grimm had noticed that Rhonda almost looked _distracted_ while working out. She was doing great, but her mind seemed to be elsewhere. So much so that she didn't seem to be trying all that hard as she powered through several obstacles and weaved her way through others. And more so than normal, she didn't seem to be getting tired.

He called it off when the sun started going down, and they both said their good nights and went back home. Rhonda only seemed to perk up when she talked about going home and taking care of a few things, though she didn't say what those things might be.

Once dinner was over and he was back in his basement room, Grimm started thumbing through college acceptance letters. He knew his parents wanted him to do the normal thing after graduation. Go to college, learn a trade, get a job, get a raise, wear a necktie - all the things that parents think their kids have to do in order to be 'successful'. But he hadn't been exaggerating when he'd told Rhonda they had enough money already that they could think about retiring right after High School.

And in the end, wasn't that all parents were really worried about? Didn't it all boil down to the fact that parents just wanted to make sure their kids had money? Money enough to take care of themselves - and take care of the parents in their old age if they needed to? Grimm thought so. He also was pretty sure that parents were just too timid to _say_ it out loud, so they masked it behind bluster talk about 'responsibility' and 'growing up'.

And there was no doubt in his mind that he had the money aspect covered. Not just covered, but locked down tight. After all their missions, each member of Team Probable had a nest egg that would make most rich people blink. He had his own bank accounts, for himself, Rhonda and Jade. Jade was the best protection against identity theft and electronic pilfering that money could buy - and she was doing it for _free_.

Plus, he preferred keeping it all quiet. He didn't want to _live_ like a rich guy. He'd seen enough rich people, like Mr. Matter, the Seniors, and Camille Leon, to know that indulging yourself with money made you _weird_. And he'd discovered a long time ago that he didn't need fancy cars, clothes, mansions or trinkets to be happy.

And he was impressed that Rhonda didn't seem to care for those things either. He wasn't even sure if Rhonda _knew_ how much money they had. She never really asked about it, and to his knowledge, Rhonda had never even bothered looking into her own account to see how much was there. She just worked and lived as if it didn't exist. And of course, Jade's parents were filthy rich anyway. He was pretty sure Jade only took part in the money aspect because living under her dad's thumb was a pain, and she wanted to have her own stash when she finally struck out on her own.

And so Grimm was only looking into colleges half-heartedly. There were times when he seriously considered going to Dad and saying that he'd rather skip college and go full-time with Rhonda and Jade, just doing what they were doing now. If they had money, then why bother with another four to six years of school to study and train for a different job that he didn't really want?

Parents, teachers, Ms. Darken - all the people who said they were the experts - that they had all the answers. Like an expert who thought he had a proven method for hitting home runs in baseball. If some amateur came along, breaking every rule in the expert's book, but still knocked it out of the ball park, then how could the expert possibly say that the amateur was doing it _wrong_? If college was what he was 'supposed' to do next, how come every time he tried to think about his future, his heart wouldn't venture beyond mercenary work, and having Rhonda and Jade there as part of it? And if that worked, how could there be anything wrong with that?

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

N'iteSkirmish piloted his Lorwardian cruiser in the skies above the surface of the planet Earth. The small crew tended to their duties at the command of BattleSkaar, the leader of their wing in the fleet. They were charged with continuing the setting of markers, and designating landing zones for the walker drones to prepare for the invasion, and the defeat of the Earthlings.

One of those Earthlings was seated in a chair near to the bridge of his vessel. N'iteSkirmish glanced back at him. 'Maintain your focus and concentration, human.' he said. 'We will require the ship to remain hidden until we return to the fleet.'

'As you command.' Maze answered quietly. 'But if I may offer suggestions - you would do wisely not to allow this concealment to make you overly daring. My shadows will do nothing to hide _carelessness_.'

'I will tend to my own duties, human.' N'iteSkirmish snapped. 'You tend to _yours_.'

'Of course.' Maze said quietly. But inwardly he was steeling himself to accomplish a mission of his own, and he needed his new allies to accomplish it. But he knew a direct request would be dismissed and ignored. So he had no choice but to _trick_ them. They had been setting markers for some time, and were drawing near to the end of this particular run. By chance, they were near to the area that he needed, and he would never have a better chance than now to accomplish his ends. 'And... do you have any complaints regarding the performance of my duties?' he asked carefully.

N'iteSkirmish sniffed without looking at him. 'You have done well, so far.' he said. 'We are very nearly back on schedule with the marker project. Our masters will be pleased.' And Maze caught the satisfied smile on his face.

'Then if I have found favor with you,' Maze said, bowing his head. 'I suggest that this last marker be placed elsewhere.'

N'iteSkirmish turned and narrowed his yellow eyes. 'And _why_ might that be?' he growled.

Maze gripped his staff more tightly. 'Because the current location is too risky.' he said. 'It should be moved, to avoid detection.'

N'iteSkirmish glared. 'Avoid detection?' he said, and he sounded irritated. 'That is why _you_ are here. If you fail in your duties, you _know_ the punishment that awaits you.'

'And I am doing as you have bid.' said Maze. 'But hiding your ship while you set the marks may not be enough. We must place the marks in strategic, but still discrete areas so that they are not noticed _afterwards_. When we leave, my shadows disperse, and the marks become visible. Already, some of them have been found and reported on our news broadcasts. Troublesome questions are being asked as a result. At the moment, they are being attributed to vandals and pranksters among our people. But that may change if too many are found and reported. While we labor to avoid detection, we should also not leave marks that will draw attention to themselves when we move on.'

N'iteSkirmish was still glaring, but he did not answer, and he looked doubtful. Maze pounced on his hesitation and continued. 'If I may humbly suggest - I would recommend _this_ area instead. It is wide enough for your symbol, and nearer to other zones you wish to target, while still being remote enough to be overlooked after the mark is set.'

Maze pointed to the tactical map, indicating a wide area near a forest. He waited with bated breath while N'iteSkirmish inspected the area. He brought up mini-windows on the main screen, scrolling through nearby cities and other statistics. Finally, he grunted and nodded.

'Very well.' he said. 'We will use these coordinates instead. I shall inform BattleSkaar of the change...'

Maze fought to hold back his eagerness as he smiled and nodded. 'You are wise, my lords.' he said greasily. 'Now if you will pardon me - I must renew my efforts to maintain our concealment...'

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

Chief Sakituya sat cross-legged in his cabin at Kamp Kwitcherbeliakin. With summer approaching, there was a buzz of activity. People who worked as guides and counselors for Summer Camp were beginning to arrive and assist in cleaning and preparing the camp for the arrival of guests. Activities were being planned, and teams organized with leaders appointed.

Things had been going smoothly so far, and Sakituya felt that they would be more than ready for the summer season. The days' efforts had come to a close, and he was resting before preparing for sleep. But there came a soft knock at the wooden door of the cabin, and he lifted his head. 'Enter.' he called out.

The door squealed slightly as it opened, and Jeff, one of the hired counselors, came into view. 'Sir?' he said. 'I'm sorry for the interruption, but a man has arrived and says he needs to talk to you. He doesn't have any appointment - should I tell him you're...'

Chief Sakituya shook his head. 'Send him in.' he said kindly, and he rose to his feet, feeling the tendons in his legs creaking.

Jeff stood aside. Behind him, a man with brown skin and a deeply lined face stepped forward at once. He had on a brown vest and brown clothes, with a necklace of tiny, brightly colored beads woven into an intricately patterned band. His hair was unkempt and long, and his clothing was heavily weather-stained.

Sakituya's face brightened. '_Samoset_!' he said, and he smiled and took the man's hand with a hearty shake. 'It is good to see you, old friend. You travel so much that we rarely meet anymore...'

Samoset nodded, but he was not smiling. 'I wish I could have come simply to visit, Chief Sakituya.'

Sakituya saw the troubled look in his eyes. 'What has happened?'

Samoset looked at him gravely. 'There is something outside the borders of the forest that I think you should see.'

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

Chief Sakituya lurched as Samoset's jeep came to a halt. Normally, he remained within the woods of Kamp Kwitcherbeliakin, and did not bother driving anywhere. But Samoset was in a tremendous hurry, wanting to show his discovery as soon as possible. They had left the forest and driven into the surrounding plains and prairie, with the forest and its mountains becoming a blue-green wall in the distance.

There were a few off-road paths beaten into the grass of the plains, and Samoset threaded the bumpy, twin tire lines of one particular path quickly. Finally, he had stopped and stood up in the jeep, motioning that Sakituya should do the same.

His short stature usually made it difficult to get height for viewing things at a distance. But in this case, it proved unnecessary. Stretched before him were the vast plains surrounding the forest, reaching as far as the eye could see. The winter snows and spring moisture had turned the normally amber grasses a bright green, dotted with patches of yellow goldenrod.

But a short distance away, there was a vast stretch of grass that had been charred black, as if burned - though the moist spring foliage should have made that impossible.

'You see why I brought you.' said Samoset.

'Yes.' said Sakituya softly, and he slowly got out of the jeep. He walked the distance to the edge of the burned grass, then knelt down to touch it. Most of the grass had been totally disintegrated. The twisted stalks that did remain crumbled to dust at his merest touch.

'This was no out of control campfire.' said Samoset, shaking his head. 'I was in these fields just yesterday, and this was _not_ here. This was done during the night - yet I saw nothing. There were no distant lights, no sign of any fires. When I passed this morning, it was here, and still smoking.'

Sakituya stood up, and his face was troubled. 'You did well to bring me.' he said.

Samoset looked out over the burned patch. 'What vandal would do such a thing, and why come all the way out here?' he said. 'There is no one living for miles around...'

'This was not mischief, or vandalism.' said Sakituya quietly. 'This mark was set here to be hidden from the eyes of others, but knowing that _we_ would find it. It is a message, and a warning.'

'A warning? Of what?'

Sakituya frowned. 'That the storm is no longer approaching. It is here - and will soon break with terrible power. This mark, and the means by which is has been hidden, bear the signs of _Ipi'kowa_.'

Samoset's eyes narrowed. 'Dark medicine? But... the only one among our own people is...'

'Yes.' said Sakituya, breaking over him. He turned to Samoset. 'Please return me to the camp.' he said. 'After that - I must ask you to gather the elders of our tribe. We must hold council as quickly as we can. Any of our young people who wish to come are also welcome. There are preparations to make - and a summons must be sent out.'

'To who?'

'To the Chosen One, and her friends.' Sakituya answered. 'It is time for the Bear Priestess to arise from her quiet life, and shake the towers and counsels of the great.'

Samoset blinked, but moved back towards his jeep, his feet rustling through the grass.

Chief Sakituya lingered before turning back. He looked out again over the plain, and the huge, charred mark which now blighted it. He shook his head and spoke in a whispered voice. '_Sskipoyiwa_... what have you done?'

Coming Soon:

Chapter 5  
>The Wisdom of the Priestess<p>

_Happy New Year to one and all! Last year was a lean one for me, at least in terms of writing and drawing for this story. But I hope that I have now found a job that is stable enough that I can devote more time to making my posts more frequent again. After all, graduation is an important time for Kim Possible and her crew - not to mention their evil mercenary counterparts..._

_Now that Riddleton has had their finals, Team Probable needs to know what grades they got. Will Rhonda do well enough to wear those funky robes? Will she have to capture herself now that Grimm has been hired to stop Poxorza the Liberatrix? _


	6. Chapter 5: Wisdom of the Priestess

All Things Probable IV  
>Graduation<p>

Kim Possible is owned/copyrighted by Disney and its affiliates, etc. etc.

Chapter 5  
>The Wisdom of the Priestess<p>

From the start of school on Monday of the following week, the time seemed to snail by. With no exams or tests coming up, and with the sport seasons over, Grimm thought Rhonda was right that there didn't seem much point to attending.

Ms. Darken however, would not stand for any day being classified as a 'write-off', and kept the Senior class busy, having the teachers treating every class as if finals were still upcoming. While working did seem to speed things up, to Grimm it wasn't by much. Without any definite point to the class work, it seemed more irksome than productive. And he found himself looking eagerly at Friday on the calendar app of his communicator, when it would all be over.

On the days after school, things still seemed busy, even though there was a comparative lull of incoming jobs from Jade. It seemed to Grimm that his and Rhonda's parents were more excited about the upcoming Graduation than he was. His mom constantly bugged him about preparations, like getting his graduation robe and cap ready. She insisted on making sure he had a tux for the Senior Prom dance that was scheduled for after the Graduation ceremony, as well as a corsage for Rhonda.

Hence, around the middle of the week, Grimm found himself standing on a footstool in the middle of the living room, wearing his tux. He sighed and rolled his eyes impatiently while his mother circled the stool, making adjustment marks and putting pins near the sleeve cuffs and at the end of his slacks.

'Mom, don't make such a big deal - the tux is good as is.' he muttered. 'It doesn't need fine-tuning.'

'Hold _still_.' she answered, standing and jabbing a pin through the sleeve. 'And it _is_ a big deal, dear. Graduation means my little Grimmy is all grown up!'

Grimm winced at his mom's old pet name for him, and more so when Lynn and Mim snorted loudly from across the room. 'Yeah, take it like a man, _wittwe Gwimmy_.' Lynn jeered.

Even before he could attempt to make a lunge at the twisters, his mother gripped his shoulders and held him in place, motioning him to silence. Grimm sighed and held his arms out so his mom could measure them for the third time.

His dad was on the couch, reading a paper. 'Listen to your mother, boy.' he said. 'The parent-child relationship is the only one that _successfully_ ends in separation, and Graduation is a big part of that. Despite what you may think, Graduation is about more than just _you_.'

Grimm smirked. 'Then enjoy it while you can - because if I'm _all grown up_, then you can't call me _boy_ anymore.' he said.

'Sorry to disappoint you.' his father answered, smiling, but not looking up from his paper. 'I get to apply _that_ title to you indefinitely.'

After the tuxedo fitting, his mom wanted to design invitations for friends and relatives. Grimm would have preferred letting her handle the whole thing, but a withering glance told him she wanted his input on all things related to his 'big night'. She even brought up renting a limousine, but he managed to talk her out of it. He didn't like advertising how much money they may, or may not, have had. And his mercenary instincts instantly rebelled against anything that might draw attention to himself.

All in all, he was glad to be able to take refuge in his basement room later. But the lull in mercenary jobs meant that he didn't have much to do even then. So when Rhonda arrived for their evening planning session, there wasn't anything to plan, and he wound up focusing on an uncomfortable-looking Jade.

'It's been close to a week.' he said over the video link. And while there was no edge to his voice, there wasn't much sympathy either. 'And we're no nearer to tracking down Killigan's vandal - _or_ finding Mr. Matter's super-woman. Normally you don't take this long to gather intel on targets.'

Jade shrugged, looking away from the screen for a split second. 'I donno what to tell you.' she said. 'You can't get blood from a stone, and you can't gather intel on targets when they don't show up. It's not just _me_ that can't find the grass vandals. _No_ _one_ has been able to get anything on them, not even the DOD. As for Pinky, there haven't _been_ any more sightings. When there are, I'm on it - but until then...' she trailed off lamely.

Grimm sighed, and the disappointment was plain. 'Well, as long as this super-heroine isn't stopping Mr. Matter's plans, then I guess he can't complain.' he muttered. 'But that could change at any time.'

'This one's _different_, G-man.' Jade said. 'With Possible, Team Go, or Team Impossible... They're all such glory-hogs that tracking them and gathering intel was a snap. But our gal Pinky doesn't seem to _like_ face time on camera. She'll be tougher to suss out unless she steps out in the open again. You might want to see if Twitch or the Irregulars have heard anything.'

Grimm still looked disappointed, but nodded. 'I'll do that - but keep your own eyes peeled.' he said. 'I trust you more than I do them.' Jade returned the nod, and the screen blipped off. The silence that fell afterwards was oddly uncomfortable. When he glanced aside at Rhonda, he was surprised to see that she looked pale and clammy. 'You feeling OK?' he said.

She jerked and started as if he had yelled _BOO_ right in her ear. 'Hah! Oh... I'm fine!' she said.

'You look peaky.' he said, running a hand over her forehead. 'Well, there's no pending jobs. I guess it's another free evening. If you're not feeling well, I'll take you home and we'll call it a night.'

- o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

Once she was back at her place, and she had made sure Grimm had left, Rhonda hurried to her room, locked the door, and took out her own communicator. 'Jade?' she said hesitantly. 'You there?'

With a burst of static, Jade was staring at her from the tiny screen, her face scowling. 'You owe me a bundt cake.' she said.

Rhonda winced and nodded. 'I'm sorry about this Jade. But I _really_ appreciate you covering for me about... you-know-who.'

Jade sighed. 'Yeah, yeah...' she said, waving a hand. 'Look Rhonda - let's talk _serious_ for a minute here. We can only play cat-and-mouse with Grimm for so long. You know what he's like. He's gonna keep hounding me until I get intel on 'Poxorza'. What are we gonna _do_? If you take anymore nighttime strolls, and get caught by _anyone_ on camera, he'll know about it. He's probably wearing a police band earpiece to bed at night, listening for a sighting. And once you're spotted, he'll scramble the team to go after you, or at least spy on you. What'll you do when that happens and you're still _out there _in costume?'

'I don't _know_!' Rhonda wailed. 'Maybe if I don't go out for a few weeks, Mr. Matter will give up. If there's no paying client, then Grimm won't have a reason to keep the contract active.'

'You wanna roll those dice?' said Jade. 'I wouldn't.'

It was grasping at straws, and Rhonda knew it. But she lacked the ability to think of anything else at the moment, and didn't feel like being grilled for answers. 'I'll mull it over and get back to you.' she muttered.

Jade recognized the dismissal, nodded, and blipped off the communicator screen.

Rhonda fell backwards onto the mattress of her bed, pressing both palms into her forehead and grimacing. 'Jeez, Rueful - how'd this get so _complicated_?' Rueful scampered next to her and laid a furry paw on her shoulder. 'I just wanted to go out and _help_ people for a change...' she moaned. 'Was that so wrong?'

Rueful's only answer was a low, soothing trill.

- o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

The last day of school eventually dawned, like all the others. But to Rhonda, just knowing it was _the_ last day somehow made it feel different. At the start of her Freshman year, when there had been four _years _of High School ahead of her, it had made it seem like the end would never come. And between exam times, dealing with bullies, and being constantly Darkened, 'endless' about summed it up. But now, knowing that today was the end, made it a bit of a shock for her.

There was a charged feeling of finality to everything that happened that day - from every opening and closing of a locker, right down to every ringing bell. Every Senior seemed to be feeling it, and all of them kept an eye on the clock, waiting for that last bell to ring. Grimm, however, gave no outward sign of excitement or tension. It seemed to Rhonda that he was trying to treat it as just another school day.

Gym period arrived, and even the air outside seemed to tingle somehow - with freshness, warmth and the promise of impending release from the stale confines of their High School prison. Despite not having any events to train for, Ms. Darken left strict instructions with the gym teachers to keep working the Seniors as if tournaments were upcoming. Grimm wouldn't have minded, except that Donnie Stoneport was still acting captain of the gymnastics team. And Donnie liked throwing his weight around nearly as much as throwing his body around while doing routines.

So Grimm was obliged to put up with Donnie's snarky leadership for the last day of school as well. _'Just another thing I can dump like a rock after graduation.'_ he said to himself. _'Enjoy the ride while you can, Donnie. Once the last bell rings today, your power trip comes to a screeching halt.'_

But even Donnie seemed to be struggling for busy-work to keep the team occupied. After going through all their old routines, he finally ran out of ideas, and ordered the team to take a few laps before hitting the showers.

It was silly - Grimm hadn't _done laps_ for ages. Laps seemed childish compared to his training yard workouts - running around in a circle like a lost ant. But any reason to step away from Donnie was fine by him. He'd ducked into the locker room, changed into his track gear and stepped outside at once. The exercise was simple to the point that he found his brain going into idle as he jogged. Besides being away from Donnie, an added benefit was that he realized Rhonda and the girls' track class were outside as well.

Just before the end of period, Grimm was finishing a lap and saw that a number of guys from the gymnastics team and the track team were huddled together near the outdoor bleachers. They seemed to be looking at something on a smart phone held by Jordan, one of the track sprinters.

Grimm sniffed, sure that it was another silly utube video or something, but as he was jogging past to begin another lap, he heard something that made him stop dead.

'...some kind of super-hero chick...' Jordan was saying.

And at once, Grimm circled around behind the group and stepped up onto the first level of the bleachers so he could get above the shoulders of the surrounding crowd. As he looked down, he saw the small, glowing rectangle of the smart phone screen. It was displaying the same image that Mr. Matter had shown him the other day, of the mysterious woman in pink. Even some of the girls on the track team were poking in for a look.

'So who _is_ she?' said Caleb, one of his team-mates in gymnastics.

'Beats me.' said Jordan. 'My pal Eugene just sent this to me a while ago, asking if I'd seen her around anywhere. I guess she's been busting up crimes in town for a few days.'

Grimm winced. _Twitch_. Of course his real name was Eugene, but Grimm was surprised that his contact in the Riddleton Irregulars wasn't being sneakier in his gathering of intel on their target. Sending out blast emails made it seem less like a mercenary job and more like... _stalking_. He kept listening, wondering if he should do anything to defuse the situation.

'She's _hot_.' said a male from the track team - Grimm couldn't remember if he was Ted or Fred.

'Looks good in tights, yeah.' said Jeff, another track member. 'But what's with the mask? What if her face is all melty and gross underneath?'

'Who _cares?_' Ted answered. 'She can leave the mask on if she wants. Kinky.'

Felicia was among the girls also looking at the picture. 'Grow _up_, Ted.' she sniffed. 'We've got a real live super crime-fighter in town, just like those rainbow guys in Go City. What does it matter how she looks?'

Grimm let out a short sigh of relief. It was just normal guy banter and ogling - nothing to worry about. He spotted Rhonda among the clutch of girls peeking in, and even Donnie was edging in to get a closer look.

'Crime fighter, huh?' said Donnie, and he was actually smirking. 'Wouldn't mind being rescued by _that_ hottie.'

Rhonda heard everything being said, and fought back the blush that she felt flaming over her whole face. During her whole time in High School, Donnie had been nothing but a snarky, sneering pain in the neck. She'd had a crush on him for a while, but his constant attitude and putting on airs had cured that. But hearing him now talking like _that_ about her alter-ego, as well as all the other guys calling her stuff like 'hottie'...

The PE teacher strode by them, clapping his hands and blowing a short burst on his whistle. 'There's still twenty minutes left people, finish off your exercises!' And with a low, collective moan, everyone returned to their routines. Grimm quickly set off again around the track giving Rhonda a sidelong wink as he passed.

Rhonda flushed, smiling and biting her lip. What was with the wink? Was it his usual not-quite-so-PDA, or did it mean something more this time? He had done it just after everyone had been goggling over her Poxorza snapshot...

The period was drawing to a close when Grimm let his eye stray over to the area where the track team girls were practicing the running long jump. Rhonda was taking her place and getting ready. He allowed his eye to take in the sight of her, her blonde hair flowing behind her as she started to run. But then he saw the mark on her arm was flaring with white and blue light. He winced and started speeding towards them...

Rhonda had been dwelling in her mind on her classmates and their talk about her alter-ego. She was both flattered, and kind of creeped out. But overall, it seemed like they admired her. It felt nice, like a small whisper of the good vibes she had felt in the courtyard of the Yamanouchi School when they'd defeated Monkey Fist. She didn't even notice the mark on her arm starting to light up as she absent-mindedly started her run at the sand filled trench for the long jump. Nor did she seem to notice, as she made the leap, that she was well on her way to clearing the entire trench...

Felicia gaped as Rhonda soared through the air in a jump so prolonged it didn't seem natural. And she wasn't the only one. All the girls were staring with open mouths, even the PE teacher.

'_Look out - BEE!'_

Grimm's voice barked out suddenly and Rhonda heard it, yelping loudly. Being stung by wasps and bees a few times as a kid had made her seriously terrified of any loud, buzzing insects. Her focus broke and she stumbled as she landed, rolling a couple of times.

Grimm hastily stepped forward and took Rhonda by the hand, leading her away towards the bleachers. 'I saw that bee landing on you.' he said, his voice artificially louder. 'You jumped almost a mile last time that happened.' and he added a false chuckle, then quickly muttered under his breath to her. 'Rhonda, your arm is doing that _thing _- rope it in, willya?'

The watching crowd was staring after them, especially Felicia, though no one followed after them. Rhonda glanced back and forth between the track team, Grimm, and her own arm, feeling stunned. The bear paw mark on her arm was so bright that it was nearly visible under the towel Grimm had thrown over her shoulder. Normally, she had to chant the Blackfoot words to 'turn on' any abilities from the power of the Great Bear. She'd noted that as Poxorza, it was suddenly taking less chanting before it kicked in. But now it had happened without her doing _anything_. Even as she realized this, the mark guttered out and faded.

'Sorry.' she said, her voice shaking. 'I... donno what happened there.' And that was true enough.

Grimm lifted the towel, and seeing the mark had faded, he drew it off. He made a big show of looking like he was checking for bee stings while keeping an eye on the track and gym teams. Most of them seemed to have gone back to finishing up their practicing. 'Yeah...' Grimm said quietly. 'Keep an eye on that. Donnie and Darken are already on to you about talking with animals, we shouldn't give them any more ammo to hassle you.'

And Rhonda kept a timid watch on her birthmark until the PE teacher finally sounded the whistle to end class. On the way back to the showers, Felicia lightly punched her shoulder with her prosthetic arm. 'Nice hang time back there, BFF.' she said.

Rhonda squeezed a false laugh. 'Yeah...' she said weakly. 'Maybe we'd have won State if the coach had kept some bees handy!'

'Yeah. _Bees_.' said Felicia, her voice totally deadpan.

- o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

The end of the day was drawing ever closer, and Grimm was fishing some books from his locker before going to his next class. As he turned, he found himself standing face to face with Ms. Darken. She stared at him in silence for a few seconds.

'A word, if you please, Mr. Probable.' she growled at last.

Grimm sighed. 'My next class is about to start - will this take long?' he said. 'I'd hate to break _your_ rules on tardiness...'

Her eyes narrowed even more at the backhanded slight. 'I'll make your excuses to the instructor. Step into my office for a moment.'

Grimm sighed, wondering what he might possibly have done to earn a talking-to from Ms. Darken on the _last_ day of school. He followed her sullenly on the many-times trodden path to the Principal's office. Ms. Darken motioned him to the chair in front of her desk, and waited until he sat down before taking her own seat. She folded her arms and glared at him. She was looking at him much more coldly than he ever remembered.

'What?' he said at last.

'You've been holding out, Mr. Probable.' she said at last.

'Holding out?'

She pushed a stapled set of papers across the desk. 'Recognize these?' she said.

He did. They were two of his final exams. 'Yeah, what about them?' he said.

Ms. Darken's face hardened. 'Don't play dumb, Probable. Like you did on these tests. You think I didn't see it? In your Social Studies exam on question #38 which asked, 'Which US President is known for preserving the Union during the Civil War', you answered 'Calvin Coolidge'. And in Biology, question #18, which asked, 'List one of the reproductive organs in a flower', you answered 'Pistol'.' She kept glaring at him with her eyebrow raised in her characteristic way. 'Explain.' she growled.

Grimm shrugged. 'What can I say?' he said. 'My bad.'

Ms. Darken slapped her hand down hard on the desk. 'You_ threw _those answers!' she nearly shouted.

Grimm shook his head. 'Maybe I was off that day.' he said. 'I still got As on the tests, what difference does it make?'

'It made the difference between a mere A grade, and being named Valedictorian!' Ms. Darken said angrily. 'You _deliberately_ got those questions wrong so you wouldn't receive the honor - why?'

Grimm was impressed. That was exactly what he'd done. He'd carefully calculated out the grades needed to cross the threshold and got just enough wrong on just enough exams to barely reach the qualifications. Not only had Ms. Darken spotted this, but she deduced _why_ he had done it. After thinking for a moment that she might make a good data analyst for the team, he answered, but kept his voice defiant. 'I'm not saying I did any such thing.' he said. 'But _if_ I did - why would I want to be Valedictorian? All that means is having to stand in front the Senior class and give them a speech about hope and change and the future. What practical use is that to them? If my classmates want success and a good life, that depends on their own choices. It's nothing to do with me.'

Ms. Darken stared at him coldly. 'I'm severely disappointed.' she said. 'Four years of education and labor in my school - and you haven't matured at all. You still don't care about anyone or anything but yourself?'

'Of course I do.' he answered back, and couldn't hold back a sneer. 'But most of the people in my

class don't like me, and the feeling's mutual. You want to talk about 'maturity'? I matured faster than any of the rest of them. I had to put up with four years of hijinks from the ones who _refuse_ to grow up. And now that it's all over, I'm supposed to pretend like I'm gonna miss them? You've watched them, you've heard them talking in the halls. You know better than anyone that most of them treated the whole Senior year as a write-off. They wasted all the time they could have spent _maturing_ by going to parties, goofing around, ignoring their homework, and always expecting somebody else to clean up the mess when the party was over. And they're planning to spend their first years of college the same way - maybe longer. You want to lecture the people who haven't learned anything? Try _them_.'

Ms. Darken looked insulted. 'Part of the maturing process is building friendships and partnerships that you'll carry with you to other phases of your life.' she said. 'People get by with more than just money, Mr. Probable. They get by with social connections. One day you might need help from one of these classmates you seem so ready to dismiss.'

'Anytime they want to grow up and join the real world, fine.' said Grimm. 'Me? I spent my time organizing and planning, and making sure I've got enough money in stash that I _won't_ need any of them.'

'That may be the case.' she said coldly. 'But what kind of member of society will you be with all that money? What will you do with it? Go on vacations and play video games for the rest of your life?'

Grimm laughed mirthlessly. 'You want the truth?' he said. 'You want to know what I plan to do with all my savings? My plan the whole time was to save up enough to make sure that my family and my friends are taken care of.'

Ms. Darken kept staring as he leaned back in his chair. 'And?' she said.

'That's it.' said Grimm. 'The rest of the world can take a flying leap for all I care.'

For nearly half a minute, Ms. Darken said nothing. When she spoke again, her voice was thick with distaste. 'I had thought I might change your mind about being Valedictorian, and persuade you to inspire your classmates to greatness.' she said. 'But after speaking with you, I now agree with you. If this is your attitude, then making you Valedictorian would have been a grave mistake. Thank you for preventing it.'

Grimm nodded, standing up. 'So if we're agreed on this, then there's nothing to argue about. We done here?' he said.

'Yes.' said Ms. Darken flatly, not looking at him, but turning to other papers on her desk. 'Join your next class Mr. Probable, that will be all.'

And Grimm left without another word.

Rhonda and Grimm shared their last class of the day. Everyone was looking forward to summer break, and was anxious for the day to end. By this time the restlessness among the Seniors had become palpable to the point where most of the students were leaning in their desks towards the door and watching every tick of the clock. Both Rhonda and Grimm had rolled their eyes when, almost predictably, Ms. Darken had come in to take over. She said their normal teacher had come down with a severe case of Spring Fever and requested time off.

Everyone grew more and more eager as the clock snailed towards the last minutes of the day. But Ms. Darken would not permit them to use the class as a mere study hall.

'Your final grades have been calculated, and I will be handing out your report cards.' she said. Some of the students looked surprised. But these were the ones who weren't in the know. Grimm, and many others, knew that instead of making the students wait a week or two, the Seniors were given their grades at the end of the last day. This guaranteed that they would pay attention to at least one part of their final class.

Ms. Darken strode up and down the rows, handing out final exam grades, and report cards, to each student in turn. Grimm perceived a particularly cold glare from her as she handed him his papers. He smirked at the neat row of letter As that followed every subject name, except for two which had A-. Rhonda was looking her grades up and down as well, then leaned in to inspect Grimm's card.

'Knew you kick A!' she said, and she leaned her card in so Grimm could take a look.

'Not bad.' he whispered. 'And here you were worried about flunking out.'

'It's a cartoon report card!' she said, and she couldn't hold back a radiant smile. Then she put a finger to her lips and started dweedling them up and down_. 'b-b-b-b-b-b!'_

Grimm chortled indulgently.

Once everyone had conferred with their friends to compare their grades, the class quieted down again. There were only a few minutes left, but they still didn't dare to chat idly with Ms. Darken standing and glaring at them.

The last minute came, and everyone was staring at the clock in rapt silence as the second hand slowly, tantalizingly revolved. Rhonda was biting her lip and trembling in her chair as it cleared the thirty second mark, then fifteen. Finally ten, and everyone began a whispered countdown while Ms. Darken's eyes narrowed warningly.

_'Five... four... three... two... one...!'_

The second hand cleared and every head whipped around to look at the bell mounted on the wall near the ceiling. It buzzed very faintly, but did not ring. For a moment, everyone sat, staring confused and helpless. None of the other bells were sounding in the halls either.

Ms. Darken heaved a weary sigh. 'I _told_ the custodians to fix those...' She winced. 'Oh very well...' Then she voiced a crude imitation of a bell, motioning everyone to the door.

Every Senior let out whoops and cheers. They scrambled to their feet, and rushed into the halls, streaming towards the exits. Most of them swept out of the doors almost at once, leaving nothing behind but a few papers strewn in their wake.

Grimm, as always, was more methodical. He made his way at an unhurried pace to his locker. But when he opened it, he blinked in surprise. It was totally empty.

'Grimm!' Jade's tinny voice squealed from off to the side. 'I tried to stop her!' Grimm turned and saw Ms. Darken standing there holding a box that contained a mass of objects from his locker, including the computer system he'd set up on his first day. Jade was looking out from the monitor screen, edging back and forth as if trying to block Ms. Darken somehow.

'I knew you would fail to clean out your locker by the appointed hour, so I took the liberty of doing it _for_ you.' said Ms. Darken, dropping the box unceremoniously into his arms. 'These belong to you - the _locker_ belongs to the school.' Then she turned and strode away.

Grimm paused a moment with the sudden finality of it, then Jade said weakly, 'We can fight this. You've used that locker for...'

'No Jade, she's right.' said Grimm, cutting across her. He paused again, regarding the empty steel box that had once housed all of his school things. It had been a communication hub for his missions, a meeting place and a landmark. It had been a central part of his life for so long. He looked around at the surrounding hallway, the scene of four years' worth of noise, bustle and activity. But which was now empty and quiet. It would be busy again next year - but with different activities, different posters, different people - without him. He heaved a small sigh. 'School is out - for good.' he said. 'It's time to close the shop.'

Jade was biting her lip on the screen, looking like she wanted to say something. But after a second, she nodded, and the monitor shut down.

He heard a set of soft footsteps, and turned to see Rhonda walking down the hall towards him, looking a little dazed. She also had a box cradled in her arms, which contained a jumble of folders, pictures of the chess club, and a framed picture of herself and Grimm.

'I donno.' she said at last. 'You'd think after four years of Darken, I'd be happier to kiss this place off. So why do I feel...'

'Like you want to run back in and hide somewhere until next year starts?' said Grimm. Rhonda shrugged with a half-hearted nod. They walked slowly down the hallway towards the exit, passing the trophy case. 'It's because...' said Grimm, thinking carefully. For all his bluster to Ms. Darken about not missing his classmates, he found the thought of leaving the school and the overall experience of it almost... _sad_. 'Sometimes people would rather stick with something they're familiar with, even if they _don't_ like it.' he said. 'Rather than facing the unknown, even if it might be something better. The unknown can be a scary thing.'

'Yeah.' said Rhonda. Grimm balanced his box in one arm and opened one of the double front doors for Rhonda. The hinges squeaked in a familiar, but somehow mournful way, the sound echoing down the empty hall. She paused a moment, looking back. 'So long, Riddleton High.' she said.

They both stepped out together, and let the door close behind them with a final sounding clang.

She paused on the concrete steps. 'This is it.' she said, with an exaggerated English accent.

'What?' said Grimm.

'If I take one more step,' said Rhonda, 'It'll be the furthest I've ever been.'

Grimm caught on, smiling, and put a hand on her shoulder. 'Well... Bilbo often used to say that there was only _one_ road.' he said. 'That it was like a great river. It's springs were at every doorstep, and every path was its tributary - _It's a dangerous business, going out of your door_, he used to say. _You step onto a road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to_.'

He pulled her gently, and with a wistful smile, she stepped onto the sidewalk with him, heading for the _Ksikkihkíni_, and freedom.

Coming Soon:  
>Chapter 6<br>Graduation Day

_Author:_

_This chapter doesn't further the Lorwardian plot. But I did that on purpose, because the last days of High School are a bittersweet thing that I felt deserved its own chapter._

_Real graduations are taking place across the country, even now, and it always sets me back to thinking of what my own graduation from high school was like. Hopefully I captured the essence of how it feels for many. There's a tenseness and eagerness for freedom. But in the back of every Senior's mind I'm sure they're thinking somehow that they have to go back again the following year, because they're so used to it. It doesn't sink into the minds of some that High School is really over - until they hunker down and start planning out college. I ended this chapter after the final bell - because once school is out for good, there is that feeling that you really don't know what to do with yourself... until Graduation!_

_Next up, it's Graduation day and Senior Prom for the Riddleton Senior class! WILL Lorwardian attack drones start raining from the sky? Or will it be different somehow...? Tune in next chapter and read for yourself!_


	7. Chapter 6: Graduation Day

All Things Probable IV  
>Graduation<p>

Kim Possible is owned/copyrighted by Disney and its affiliates, etc. etc.

Chapter 6  
>Graduation Day<p>

_Part I:_  
><em>Chasers<em>

'Is there any point asking you _not_ to do this?' Jade said, looking out through the screen of the communicator propped up on Rhonda's dresser.

It was the day before Graduation. Both Rhonda and Grimm had spent the harried days after the last day of school being pressed by their parents to get every detail of their Graduation in order. Grimm seemed especially resentful of the insistence of his parents, as it was taking so much time away from mercenary work. Not that there was a press of jobs at the moment. Jade still had no intel on the grass vandals, and unknown to Grimm, she was still running interference from getting any intel on 'Poxorza'.

A task that had suddenly become more difficult as Jade contacted Rhonda, only to find her donning her costume.

Rhonda had the suit on and was hopping up and down while pulling on the boots. She had not yet put on the mask, but had it clenched in her hand, the false pink hair bouncing up and down like a pom-pom while she hopped. Her hankering for action was apparently stronger than Grimm's at the moment.

'Come on Jade - I've got an itch to scratch here!' she said.

'Try Lanacane...' Jade said wearily.

'It'll be OK - look, Grimm's parents have got him wrangled fixing up the place for the family dinner on the day after, right? You know what his mom's like - he may as well be bolted to the floor.'

Jade grimaced, but said nothing. There was truth to what Rhonda was saying.

'And we already tested the new hover platform the other day - five minutes to zip downtown, an hour to scout for action, allowing another thirty minutes if anything actually happens, then five minutes back home! Badda-bing, badda-_boom_!'

Jade bit her lip. Truth be told, the hover platform wasn't really 'new'. It was the same one that Monkey Fist had broken in Basalton - Jade had simply fixed it, increased the base height with rollbars so passengers wouldn't slide off, added some safety straps, and painted it black. She had serious reservations about Rhonda using it for her crime-fighting jaunts. They were pushing it with Rhonda's suit already - too much of the tech was stuff they were already using. Grimm knew about the platform - he had seen Jade using it in Basalton. Even through the new structural and cosmetic changes, he might recognize it if he saw it in action. But Rhonda was talking in a hurry, pulling on her gloves and looking towards the window of her room.

'The platform is safe under a camo tarp near my nature spot out back. As long as I use the stealth function to make sure no one can see when I head out, then I'm good! _Ninja_!' And with that, she started pulling on her mask.

Jade shook her head. 'Rhonda don't do this, you're...' But Rhonda had already activated her stealth mode and slipped out the window. '...gonna get _caught._' Jade sighed, her voice sounding through empty air of her computer room at home.

- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0

Rhonda left Rueful to chill in her sanctorum again - she wanted to put the platform through a proper field test before bringing any of the animals with her. She also wondered if she could make some kind of mask for Rueful, then caught herself. _'What - to protect his "secret weasel identity"?'_ she thought with a shrug. But she reckoned she would _have _to do something like that sooner or later if Rueful was to come on any of her outings. She didn't like leaving him behind, but Poxorza being seen with a pet weasel would be too much of a giveaway.

The suit's stealth mode made it easy to get to the wooded area behind her house and make her way to where she had hidden the hover platform. Within a few moments of whipping off the tarp, she had buckled in, extended the stealth field, and was taking to the air.

She wobbled a bit as she got airborne, but she _had _practiced, as she had said to Jade. It was like riding a bike, except in three dimensions. Soon she was gliding over the suburbs, heading towards the diffused glow of downtown Riddleton. In the setting sun, the buildings seemed almost black against the dimming sky.

She was still nervous about flying, but she didn't go too high, and looking down on the houses and yards smoothing by underneath her, she felt elated in more ways than one. She was finally beginning to understand why so many people had a childhood fantasy about being able to fly...

- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0

Ralph Thorne was pulling down the metal shield door for his printing store, the _Copp-e Shoppe_, closing for the night. His mind was preoccupied with how to expand his customer base in the face of a slowly expanding number of people buying their own printers. As such, he didn't notice as a group of two men came up behind him.

Ralph shouted in protest as he was turned roughly around, but his indignant shout was reduced to a wheezing gasp, seeing the men and the wicked looking knives they were holding out.

'Hope you had a busy day, man!' said the first one, a thin man with day-old stubble on his face and wearing a snow cap, despite the warmer weather. 'Now hand over the day's take and no one gets hurt!'

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Ralph felt his mouth opening and his brow knitting in a scowl. 'The money's _inside_, locked in a safe!' he said indignantly. It wasn't true, but somehow he wasn't ready to give in to these thugs just yet. 'Why'd you wait until _after_ I locked up to try and rob the place?'

The two muggers looked almost sheepishly back and forth at each other for a moment before the angry hardness returned to their faces. 'Hey, shut up!' said the first one. 'Just... open the store again and get us the money!'

Sensing weakness, Ralph tried to bluster his way through and keep them off guard. 'The safe is on a _time lock_, you mooks!' he said. 'I can't open it until tomorrow! Do you want to risk felony assault charges when there's no way you can get any money off it?'

The second thug was grimacing and nudged his fellow with an elbow. 'Dude let's just get _out_ of here...' he muttered under his breath. And for a moment, Ralph thought he had fooled them into giving up.

But the first one, looking more agitated, pressed his blade until it was almost touching Ralph's throat. 'I said _open the shop again_, man!' he said, looking committed now. 'I wanna see this safe of yours!'

Ralph now felt afraid. A quick glance up and down the streets showed that no one was around to help him. Once he opened the store again, the thieves would see there was no safe, and then it would be a simple matter for them to break open the register...

'_Safety this, losers!'_

From out of nowhere, a thin figure in a black body suit charged into the thieves from the side. Ralph caught a flash of pink. There was a hollow, metallic _thunk_, and both of the would-be muggers flew several feet to the side with shouts of pain. They crashed into the sidewalk pavement and did not get up again.

Ralph gaped in amazement as what looked like a girl skidded to a halt next to the thieves, looking down at them. She was wearing a mask with goggle eyes and even her hair seemed to be pink. In both her hands, she was gripping something large and heavy, and Ralph saw that it was a US Postal mailbox that she seemed to have torn loose from who knew where.

Even though the men were obviously out cold, the masked girl was pointing down at them and shouting as if they could hear her. 'Yeah that's right!' she said. 'Just call me the _fe-_mail man!' When the comatose thugs didn't respond to her awful pun, she sniffed and turned to Ralph, who could only stand staring with his mouth open at the bizarre sight.

'Fear not, good sir!' said the girl in black and pink, holding out a palm dramatically. 'These two won't bother you again! Not with this fair city under the watchful eye of... _Poxorza the Liberatrix_!'

For nearly a full minute, Ralph continued to stare in dumbfounded silence. Finally the girl's arm seemed to get tired and she lowered her palm again. She bowed and flourished her hands comically while backing away into the street. 'You're _welcome_...' she said, then turned and ran.

Ralph watched the girl disappear into an alleyway across the street. After another few moments of dead silence, he glanced aside at the moaning heap that was his erstwhile assailants, then fished a smart phone from his pocket.

'Hello?' he said after a quick dial.

'Riddleton Police Headquarters, how can I help you?' came a voice over the line.

'I... need you to send a car to pick up a couple of guys who just tried to rob me.' said Ralph hesitantly. 'Have them bring some of those donuts they're always eating, and some tranquilizers - 'cause they're gonna need _both_ when they hear _this_...'

- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0

Rhonda raced into the alley back to the hover platform. _'Not bad!'_ she thought eagerly. _'And I didn't even need Jade to guide me that time!'_ She hopped onto the platform and sent it rising slowly into the air, wondering, since she had foiled a heist so soon after going out, if she might get in another before zipping back home...

From across the way, a group of three guys, looking like street punks, were staring out from another shadowed alleyway. As Rhonda's hover platform ascended, the leader of the group whipped out his smart phone and speed dialed...

- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0

Grimm sighed as he polished one of several wooden tables. His mom was insisting that each one had to have a mirror gloss for the coming family dinner. He had done two already, and he winced as he looked down a line at three more tables lined up, which his mom wanted done before the evening was over. Suddenly his communicator beeped. He paused in his polishing and glanced at it. _Twitch_. He shook his stiff elbow and turned on the communicator. 'What is it, Twitch?' he said. 'I'm kinda busy here...'

Twitch seemed even twitchier than normal from the sound of his voice. 'Then you better use some of that busy energy to get downtown _pronto_, dude!' he said quickly. 'You know that super chick you got us tailin'? Well some of my guys just spotted her!'

Grimm had thrown down the polish and rag and was sprinting to his basement room. He kept the line open as he thundered down the stairs, dashed into his room and started grabbing equipment and his mission clothes. He set the communicator down and shucked his shirt, rapidly changing to his mission outfit. 'Where's she heading?' he said.

'She's got some kind of Dick Tracy flying trash can.' Twitch said. 'But they've still got her in sight - heading towards the South side!'

'Where the muggers usually hang out.' Grimm muttered. 'Right - keep her in sight as long as you can, I'm on my way - nice work Eugene.'

Twitch winced at the use of his real name. 'Just _hurry_ dude, no tellin' how long we can keep her marked...' then the screen blipped off.

Grimm finished changing, clipped on his belt and speed dialed Jade, heading back to the stairs. 'Jade, we've got a bead on Mr. Matter's super girl!' he said. 'Twitch has some guys on her. Tell Rhonda to get ready, we're moving to intercept!'

Jade had wide eyes and her mouth was hanging open. 'Ah...' she dithered, tapping madly on her keyboards. 'Rhonda... went... _gown_ shopping - she thought tonight was free. It'll be a few minutes before...'

Grimm was taking the stairs three at a time. 'We can't wait! If she's downtown, then she's probably closer than _I_ am - we'll have to rendezvous on the fly! Has she got her communicator?'

Jade almost panicked because she knew Rhonda had left her communicator back in her room - but then she remembered the Poxorza costume had a communicator built-in. 'Yeah.' she said, quickly wiping her brow.

Grimm nodded. 'Get her up to speed, and tell her where to be so I can pick her up! I'm headed for the bike, I'll be in touch in a minute.'

- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0

Rhonda glided over the city. The platform used the same MRT technology as the bike, so it was nearly silent. She felt on top of the world. _'Criminals of Riddleton!'_ She thought to herself. _'Look up in horror at the night sky - for Poxorza the Liberatrix cometh for thee!'_

Then she yelped as Jade's voice piped into her ear. 'Rhonda?!' she said in a frantic half-scream.

'Gosh, Jade!' Rhonda gasped. 'What'd I say about speaking softer into this thing? I'm downtown now - got any leads on some action?'

Jade made a _pfft_ sound with her lips. 'You're about to get more action than you bargained for!' she said. 'The Irregulars saw you - they're probably tailing you on foot right _now_! You know that situation we talked about? The one where I said Grimm might come after you while you're still in costume?'

'Y..._yes_.' said Rhonda weakly.

'Well turn around and get home _because it's happening right now!'_

Rhonda banked hard and turned. 'Oh _cheese_...!' she gabbled. 'Oh cheese, oh cheese oh _cheese_! Jade you gotta delay him!'

'I told him you were out shopping for gowns!' Jade spluttered, 'He's on the bike right _now_ and asking me to link you so he can pick you up and you can _both_ go after... _you_!'

Rhonda thought desperately. 'Uh... uh... Oh _man_... If the Irregulars are tracking me, he'll head straight for me!'

'Can't you just turn on stealth mode and lose them?' Jade said. 'I made it to work with the hover platform, just like the bike, didn't I?'

'I burned through it all to get downtown!' Rhonda moaned. 'You said it would take a while to recharge!'

'And by then Grimm will _be_ there.' Jade said, also in a groan.

'Aw, _cheese_!' they both moaned simultaneously.

On the ground, the three Irregulars tailing Rhonda skidded when she suddenly changed direction. One of them had his smart phone in hand and was talking as they ran. 'Yo, Twitch!' he said, panting from having already jogged several blocks in pursuit of the object flying through the air. 'She's doubling back - I think she saw us somehow! She's headed back to mid-town.'

Twitch had Grimm on line in conference call. 'You catch that, dude?'

Grimm was on the bike and nearing a wooded stretch of road outside the suburbs of his neighborhood, where he usually did his takeoffs so they wouldn't be spotted. 'On it!' He brought up a separate com link. 'Jade - she's changed course! Where the heck is Rhonda?'

Jade sounded uncharacteristically agitated as she answered. 'Hang on, G-man!' she said. 'She had her communicator off, I'm buzzing her...'

- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0

'Rhonda?' Jade gasped, hyperventilating into a lunch bag as she temporarily muted Grimm's com link. '_Plan_?'

Despite the relative quiet of the night air around her, as she glided serenely over the city buildings, Rhonda felt like she was headed through a WWII flak field.

_'Rhonda?'_ Jade squealed.

'Ok!' she spluttered. 'Go ahead and link us up!'

'_What?'_

'Just do it!'

Jade gritted her teeth. _'I hope you know what you're doing...'_ she thought with gritted teeth.

- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0

Grimm had gone airborne. The secondary thruster wings were unfolding from the nacelles of the bike and he was picking up speed, racing towards the dim line of buildings that marked downtown Riddleton. He heard a beep on his com link with Jade. 'I've got Rhonda on the line.' she said.

'Babe - where are you?' he said without waiting. 'Jade told you what's going down?'

'Yes!' came her tinny voice through the mic. 'But I was out looking at...'

'Gowns, I know!' Grimm said curtly, cutting over her. 'Where are you at? The Prom-ul-Gate at the mall?'

'No - I went further out to 'Puttin' On The Ritz...'

Grimm winced - it was clear out on the other side of Riddleton. 'Look, if I loop out to get you, we could lose her!' he said. 'Dip into the mission cash. Jade? Get her a taxi, anything! Rhonda, head to mid-town as fast as they'll take you! And Jade - I've got Twitch and the Irregulars on another line. They're the ones tailing our target. Until I get a visual, I'll need to coordinate with them so I can get to the right spot! I'm counting on you to guide Rhonda to me!'

In her computer room, Jade heaved a guarded sigh of relief. This would keep Grimm from expecting 'Poxorza' and Rhonda from being in the same place - at least for a while. With the comm lines open, she didn't dare question Rhonda about whatever scheme she had in mind, but she picked up enough to know that she had to act as a go-between to keep up the ruse until Rhonda could get the stealth mode charged on her hover platform. On the downside - it meant that Grimm was going to bee-line straight to 'Poxorza' at top speed.

_'Ok, Jade...'_ she thought, cracking her knuckles and hunching over her keyboards, _'Time to see if you're any good at juggling...'_

- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0

Rhonda dipped the hover platform lower and weaved around a few buildings, trying to shake the Irregulars. The hover platform wasn't all that fast - but unlike her pursuers, she was not blocked by ground level obstacles.

'Yeah, she's definitely seen us!' said the Irregular into his phone. 'She's goin' low, trying' to lose us in the buildings... she just looped around the _Chaser_ Financial...'

'Tell them to fan out!' said Grimm. 'Keep her in sight as long as you can, I'm almost there...'

- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0

Rhonda felt her heart pounding in panic. 'Jade - are both com lines still open?' she said.

'Not anymore, thank goodness.' Jade said, sounding winded.

'Can't this thing go any faster?' she squealed.

'Sorry - it's not built for speed!' Jade said. 'The bike will run circles around it - what's the gauge on the stealth mode charger say?'

Rhonda looked down and bit her lip. 'Fifty percent!' she said.

'It'll be another few minutes at least!' Jade moaned. 'Look, the bike has more thrust, but the platform is omnidirectional - it can corner better! Your only chance is to try and keep losing him among the buildings. If you keep him on the run long enough for the stealth charge to build up, 'Poxorza' can still get away - and staying on the move will give me an excuse for 'you' not being able to catch up with Grimm.'

'That'll have to do.' said Rhonda, gripping the control handles.

'Think you can handle it?'

'Well, Grimm taught me, so I learned from the _best_.' said Rhonda. At that very moment, she heard a soft, high pitched whine and saw a flash of purple dart out from around the building in front of her...

- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0

Grimm steered the _Ksikkihkíni_ around one of the mid-town skyscrapers. About twenty yards below, he saw a figure in black, with pink hair, gliding over the rooftop of a smaller structure. _'Gotcha!'_ he thought, and dived.

Rhonda fought back a yelp as the _Ksikkihkíni_ bore straight at her. She thought for a minute he intended to collide, and she instinctively made the platform lower straight down. She _felt_ the bike clipping right over her head, and the buffeting of the slipstream.

Grimm wheeled the bike around in a semi-circle as tight as he could manage. 'Target in sight.' he said over the communicator. 'Thanks Twitch - you and the guys can back off now, we'll take it from here.' And he shut off Twitch's com line, focusing on Jade's. 'What's Rhonda's ETA?' he barked.

Jade bit her lip. _'If you only knew..'_ she thought, but out loud she said, 'She just flagged a cab - it'll be a few minutes...' she said. 'Grimm, Mr. Matter said she's got super strength - maybe you should back off. Without Rhonda...'

'I didn't forget.' came Grimm's voice, and she could hear a smirk in it somehow. 'So I brought along a little something that should even the odds until Rhonda gets here.' He slowed the bike to try and get more maneuvering capability, because the pink girl and her hovercraft had dipped between the alley of two buildings and out of sight. Mentally, Grimm tried to envision the path where she would have to emerge, unless she went to ground or shot straight up. He did a little quick math, smiled quietly and resumed acceleration.

In her computer room, Jade was squinting as she typed at her keypads, using her tracking computer to keep tabs on both the platform, and the _Ksikkihkíni_. She eyed a tactical map of the city overlaid with two glowing blips, one purple, the other pink. Rhonda, the pink dot, had dipped into a dead-end alley with only two ways out - forward, or up. Grimm was moving fast towards the forward exit.

But even so, she thought that Rhonda could just dip around the bike and keep moving. She knew Grimm wouldn't risk wrecking the _Ksikkihkíni_ in a mid-air collision, and the bike had no built-in weapons. All he could really do was buzz Rhonda and try to scare her out of the sky. As long as Rhonda kept her head, they could play cat-and-mouse until the stealth mode was charged.

Yet she was uneasy. Grimm had sounded a little too confident, even going up against an opponent who supposedly had paranormal strength. He had mad skills with Tai Sheng Pek Kwar, but his moves were primarily geared towards defense and wearing his opponents out. That wouldn't work on Rhonda once she had her bear powers up. So what could Grimm have possibly brought along with him that could cope with super strength...? And with a gasp of fear, she realized Grimm _did_ have something to deal with super strength - they had used it against Monkey Fist when he had been petrified and animated with the golem enchantment. Hurriedly, she muted Grimm's com line and tuned Rhonda's...

Rhonda was swooping downwards, just a few feet from the ground and heading to the exit of the alley at the platform's top speed. Suddenly she heard Jade shouting in panic. 'Rhonda - he's moved ahead of you - he's got the _Moo Goo Guy Gun_!' And in a splintered second, she saw the _Ksikkihkíni_ lowering down from in front and above her. She caught a glimpse of Grimm, helmeted and aiming what looked like a shotgun with a really wide barrel.

There was a soft _thump_, and a white orb was shooting at her. Rhonda gasped and cranked the _Z_ control. She shot up like a cork and heard a wet splatter somewhere behind her. But she didn't pay attention to that - she tried to remember what Jade had told her about the Moo Goo Guy Gun - it was something they'd made to imprison and hold Maze's golems - some kind of expanding foam that stuck like glue and wouldn't break, no matter how hard it was punched. If she got hit with it, then even her bear strength would have trouble with it - and she didn't dare use her spirit strike against it. She might as well take off her mask, because Grimm would _know_ it was her.

Instead she braced herself hard and sent the platform darting off to the left as soon as she cleared the rooftop of the buildings which formed the alley. The steering for the platform was different than the _Ksikkihkíni_. The bike was rigged with MRTs, but they were made more like traditional thrusters. The platform controls were more like playing the old 3D game _Descent_. You maintained position until nudging the controls to move in a specific direction, including up or down.

It meant that you had to develop a tolerance to g-forces, because the controls and the direction changes took place almost instantly. If you changed course too suddenly, or too radically, it could feel like hitting a brick wall, and too much of it would stress the platform until it fell apart. And Rhonda definitely felt the jostling as she suddenly darted off to the side.

Grimm frowned at the miss. It was like she'd known he was coming. He wondered for a moment if, in addition to the strength, the girl in pink also had a 'spider sense'. He holstered the Moo Goo Guy Gun in a caddy he'd rigged onto the bike, and took the controls to pursue. After the caper with Monkey Fist and Maze, Jade had made improvements to the Moo Goo Guy Gun. It had proved too useful a device to just abandon once the golem sitch had ended. Jade had compacted the gun, then replaced the backpack and tube apparatus with orbs that were more like shotgun shells.

He raised the bike into the air and soared after the girl in pink, closing fast. He checked to make sure the extra Moo Goo shells were stowed securely, then focused on keeping up with the bobbing and weaving platform.

Rhonda was fighting to keep an unpredictable course. Grimm couldn't steer the bike _and_ fire the gun at the same time - she had to keep him guessing as to where she'd be so he couldn't draw a bead on her and land a shot. From what she knew, if she got hit by one of the Moo Goo shots, it was all over. As she frantically worked the controls, her hand slipped and she hit a green button, one of the buttons Jade hadn't explained to her.

And suddenly music started playing over a small speaker - she'd accidentally turned on one of Jade's mp3 mixes. She tried to ignore it as the _Ksikkihkíni_ scudded across the rooftops right _next_ to her, only a few yards off to the side.

_I can do it, I can run  
><em>_I can hunt you down  
><em>_You can try, but you can't stop me  
><em>_'cause I'm gaining ground!_

_ I'm light on my feet  
><em>_and I'm quick to the punch  
><em>_I had a heavy breakfast  
><em>_but a real light lunch!_

Rhonda slapped a couple of buttons here and there, but it only boosted the volume. She gritted her teeth and braced herself for more jostling as Grimm hefted the Moo Goo Gun one-handed.

Grimm tried to lead the gliding hovercraft with the gun, and he saw the girl in pink staring at him through the pink lenses of her eye goggles He swore he could hear music. She was listening to _tunes_ while trying to evade him? That seemed a bit _cheeky_, and as he pulled the trigger, the platform immediately halted. The girl lurched over her controls, but the _Ksikkihkíni_ couldn't stop on a dime. His shot swept by an inch in front of the platform, but still missed, and as he zipped past her, he definitely heard music coming from a speaker.

_ I'm rough-and-tumble  
><em>_I'm the one to beat  
><em>_I'm a fresh coat of blacktop  
><em>_burnin' at your feet!_

_ I've got a poisonous sting  
><em>_when I rain I pour  
><em>_I'm the best of the best  
><em>_I'm the soup du jour!_

Grimm felt a stab of frustration as he wheeled the bike around yet again. The girl's platform was slow, but it was zig-zagging in a way the bike couldn't match. She was weaving between buildings like the Millennium Falcon through an asteroid field, always trying to keep something between her and his bike - he'd have to rethink his approach. It was ideal for the Moo Goo Guy Gun to be fired at medium to close range, but the platform's erratic movements made it too chancy, and he had a limited number of shots.

He righted and caught sight of the platform again, nearly at the edge of another rooftop and moving away. He slowed the bike to keep pace. The girl seemed to be gunning whatever engine the platform had, and if that was true, its top speed was about twenty miles an hour - no matter which direction it might suddenly take.

And she was definitely trying to stay as far away from him as possible. He wondered about that. If she really had super strength, what was she scared of? She didn't know who he was, but if she thought he was a criminal, then why was she running away instead of confronting him like she did those muggers?

'Time, Jade!' he said quickly into his communicator. 'You've got our coordinates - where's Rhonda?'

'You guys are changing course too much - she can't keep up in the cab!' Jade answered.

'Sorry.' said Grimm. 'But I don't think Pinky is gonna _slow down_ for us! Keep her posted, I'll do what I can!'

He followed her over another set of rooftops, staying about fifteen feet behind. Something just didn't seem right to Grimm. By now, the girl in pink had to know she could never outrun his bike - yet she was still trying. That meant she must be _stalling_ for something - and he decided he wasn't going to wait and find out what it was.

He gunned the bike hard and shot past her like a bullet. And sure enough, as soon as he was level with her, she veered and scudded to a higher rooftop to her left and away from him. _'All right, be that way.'_ he thought, and felt his smirk returning. He closed the distance to ten feet as he careened around in pursuit, and sure enough, she nudged her course to make sure she could maintain distance, and keep an eye on him. He hefted the Moo Goo Gun, but this time he had no intention of firing. He merely aimed, and noted that the girl in pink was keeping a wary eye on the barrel, and adjusting her course erratically to stay out of the line of fire. He glanced at a tactical street map of the city on the screen dashboard, and adjusted his own course to match hers...

Rhonda kept hammering at the controls, trying to turn off the music player - it was bad enough trying to concentrate without speakers blaring at her.

_ I'm a big haymaker in a title fight!  
><em>_I'm a cute black kitten with a nasty bite!  
><em>_I'm an action double-feature on a Friday night!_

Finally, she hit a button and the music either shut off, or the volume muted. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Grimm had the Moo Goo Gun out and was levelling it at her slowly. He was approaching from her left, and she sent the platform sweeping off to the right.

For another couple of minutes, she kept up that pattern. Grimm would come up beside her, aiming the gun, and she would zip off course to avoid him. She was starting to feel a little proud that she was keeping him at a distance, but years of working alongside him made her nervous. It wasn't like him to go this long without trying some kind of take-down. But then, she reasoned, it _was_ just like him to play it like a chess game, thinking a few moves ahead of his opponent.

Her own experience as chess team captain at school kicked in, and she realized that Grimm wasn't really _trying_ to hit her - he was toying with her, aiming at her and scaring her just enough to make her move... where _he wanted her to go?_

Jade's voice sounded in her ear, shrill and panicked. 'Rhonda - dead end, dead end!'

'Oh... _snap!_' she spat under her breath. Grimm had herded her into another dead end alleyway, and this time he was above and behind her - leaving her with no escape route except up. Grimm was holding the gun steady now, and firing several volleys.

'Shield, Rhonda! _Shield_!'

Rhonda had nearly forgotten the suit's shield function. She threw up her hands and activated, the pink dish flaring in front of her. Two of the Moo Goo shots splattered heavily against it, while three more hit the wall behind her, and another one struck the side of the platform. The Moo Goo was inflating rapidly, already covering the shield. She could feel its weight, and quickly dropped the shield. The Goo sticking to the shield fell away as it vanished, but some of it stuck to the front of the platform, while the hit on the side had already formed into a mass about the size of a medicine ball.

Grimm was reloading the Moo Goo Gun, but he figured he no longer needed it for the moment. _'Try and run now, Pinky.'_ he thought with a faint smile.

Rhonda tried moving the platform away from Grimm, but it was going much slower - the added weight of the expanding Moo Goo was dragging her. She frantically checked the stealth gauge - it had hardly moved at all. 'Jade - why isn't it charging faster?' she muttered.

Jade sounded like she was typing a hundred words a minute as her voice came back on the comlink. 'I think you're using too much power running around - and that added weight is only going to make it worse! There's still a can of the Moo Goo solvent in the storage compartment from when I went to Basalton, but with Grimm there...' She sighed. 'What you really need is to just leave the platform idle for a couple of minutes, then the stealth should charge a lot faster!'

Through her panic, Rhonda thought of a plan. Buy some time? There was only one sure-fire way to do that. After all, Grimm _did_ love to talk...

_Part II_  
><em>Grimm vs. Poxorza - FIGHT!<em>

She took the platform to the roof of the tallest building she could see that was closest by and managed to land it. The roof had a service exit, and also several large air conditioning units. She quickly ditched the platform behind one of them, then ran out into an empty area.

Grimm soared up and saw the girl in pink standing on the rooftop without the platform. She was twitching her fingers in a 'come get me' gesture and looked ready for battle. Grimm sniffed. _'Oh, you'd like it if I landed the bike, wouldn't you?' _he thought. _'Give you a free shot at busting it up? I don't think so.'_

It would be a simple matter to keep airborne and strafe around her, and keep taking pot-shots at her with the Moo Goo Guy Gun until something hit. He took a quick aim at her, and at once she skittered off to the side, ducking behind one of the many air conditioning units that dotted the rooftop.

He slowed the bike down to nearly a hover, and skirted around, looking for a shot. But with the Moo Goo Gun held up, the girl in pink would simply dart to the side and keep one of the A/C units between him and her. He lowered the gun, and she stepped back out.

Grimm smirked. _'All right, then.'_ he thought. Quickly, he did an equipment check, then he set the _Ksikkihkíni_ to auto pilot. Then he swooped down nearly to the level of the rooftop and jumped. The bike soared back up and maintained a circular holding pattern, nearly fifty feet above, and Grimm turned his attention to the patchwork of A/C units in front of him on the rooftop.

Rhonda heard Grimm land, and his softly approaching footsteps. She caught a sight of the _Ksikkihkíni _flitting above. She moved away and put another A/C unit between her and the sound of Grimm's footsteps. She couldn't risk getting hit directly with the Moo Goo Gun.

'It's all over!' she heard Grimm shouting. 'You may as well come out!'

Rhonda kept moving, but raised her voice to answer, hoping the muffling from her breather would be enough to keep him from recognizing her. 'Put away your gun, first!' she shouted back, surprised by how much her shout was echoing.

Grimm muttered a whispered breath into the communicator before answering_. 'Jade, Rhonda - ETA.'_ he said. Then out loud he shouted. 'Don't tell me the big-bad car wrecking super lady is scared of my little pop-gun. Where's your feminine pride?'

'She's still about four minutes away by taxi - and that's not including any red lights she may hit, or how long before she can get to the top floor!' Jade hissed. 'Be careful!'

'Well... where's your man-pride?' Rhonda yelled back. 'Why're you hiding behind a gun anyway? You _compensating_ for something?'

Grimm blinked. Not only was she not taking the bait, she was firing back with barbs of her own. He considered for a moment. As long as he had the Moo Goo Guy Gun, she was going to keep playing hide-and-seek around the A/C units. That played to his advantage for time, and would let Rhonda arrive so they could gang up on her. But he had another ace up his sleeve as well, and decided he would lose nothing if he tried it. 'All right, I'm game.' he shouted. 'I'm putting my weapon down!' and he set it on one of the air vents near the service doorway. 'Now why don't you face me like a _girl_?'

Rhonda could scarcely believe it. He had actually _done_ it? She edged her face out and saw Grimm standing about ten feet away from the Moo Goo Gun with his hands up, but still looking quietly amused. She stepped into view, ready to dart back, but Grimm made no attempt to get the gun. The hover platform stealth mode was charging in its hidey-hole between two of the A/C units - and would be ready to go soon. Jade had bought her four minutes before 'Rhonda' was expected to arrive.

'Who are you, evil-doer?' she said in her best hero stage voice.

'How about you tell me who you are first? Or should I just keep calling you _Pinky_?'

'I am... _Poxorza the Liberatrix!'_ she shouted, raising a fist.

Grimm maintained a deadpan face. 'Yeah, whatever.' he said.

'And how about you? Are you 'The Amazing Mr. Bike' or something?'

'I'm neighborhood watch.' said Grimm with a smirk. 'And _you're_ the only evil-doer here, lady. The cops sent me to track you down for breaking a whole mess of city ordinances.'

'What? No they _didn't_!' said Rhonda indignantly. Grimm had never consulted with the police on any of their mercenary jobs as far as she knew.

'How do _you_ know that?' said Grimm, his smile not fading.

Jade's voice muttered loudly in her earpiece. 'Rhonda - remember, you've _never met him!_'

'Oh... yeah!' Rhonda said softly, without thinking.

'What was that?' said Grimm.

'I said... Oh _yeah_?' Rhonda answered, taking a more defiant tone. 'What ordinances are they saying I broke?'

'Flying without a license, damaging public property, disturbing the peace, assault and battery, shall I go on?'

'I'm helping the people of this fair city fight crime!' she said.

Grimm took a minute step closer. 'If you want people to obey the law, then you won't mind coming down to the police station and making your case.' said Grimm. 'If the cops think you're doing them a _favor_, you've got nothing to worry about, right?'

'Ahhh...' said Rhonda, at a momentary loss or words.

'Unless you're _scared_ of the police - which means you're just as much a criminal as the thugs you're beating up.' Grimm went on.

Rhonda bit her lip - worried for a second that her plan to stall Grimm by getting him to talk had backfired.

'Or are you going to try attacking _me_, when I'm here representing the police - and _really _make yourself an outlaw?' He went on. 'Maybe you should be arresting yourself.'

Rhonda glared, though she knew he couldn't tell it from behind her goggles. She knew the cops hadn't sent him, and there was no order to bring her in - but she couldn't say so without tipping her hand. 'If the cops recruited you, let's see your badge!' she said.

Grimm took another baby step forward, with one hand straying to one of the pouches on his belt. 'I'll show you mine if you show me _yours_.' he said smoothly.

Rhonda blushed furiously under her mask. Even after years of seeing Grimm in action, she had still somehow let herself get suckered in by the head games he used to keep heroes like Kim Possible off balance. All the times in the past, the horns had been facing _out_ rather than in. Using his tricks directly against her seemed to add an edge to it that she didn't like. '_Not_ buying it.' she said flatly. Grimm had edged closer still. She wasn't worried as long as he didn't have the Moo Goo Gun - between her suit and her bear powers, she was pretty sure Grimm couldn't take her down. She kept a wary eye on the gun, lying well out of his reach now.

'Stubborn, aren't you?' said Grimm. He was now barely four feet away. 'Then I guess there's just one thing left to say. _Catch_!'

And Rhonda saw him arm flash out. He had slipped a dark grey sphere from his hip pouch as they talked and lobbed it straight at her. Instinctively she put up her shield. The Moo Goo grenade didn't hit her directly, but several heavy drops splattered on the ground right in front of her and got on her boots.

Grimm darted forward. He saw the pink dome flare out in front of Poxorza and deflect most of the Moo Goo, just as she had with the shots from the gun. She was dropping the shield again, letting the brunt of the Goo slough onto the ground in front of her. He slid and crouched to her left, lashing out with a foot sweep.

Learning to take a fall was basic Judo training, and Rhonda let herself tuck and roll backwards as she felt her feet slip out from beneath her. She used her position to lash out with her own feet, trying to trip him. But her boots were now coated with a swelling mass that slowed her down. Grimm easily flipped up and was coming down fast with a flying kick.

Rhonda rolled to the side with a gasp, hearing his strike land hard where her head had been a moment earlier. When training, Grimm had always been tough - but he'd never really cut loose like he was doing now, and it scared her a bit. She twisted and rolled to her feet, getting back up and nearly stumbling. The Goo surrounding her ankles had expanded larger than moon boots, and she couldn't flex her ankles. Grimm was advancing again, his arms moving in the style of Tai Sheng Pek Kwar.

Jade's voice piped in through Rhonda's earpiece. 'Sorry - I forgot about the grenades!' she said in a wail. 'He might have more in the hip pouch - don't let him fake you out again!'

'Right...' she whispered, blocking a series of punches and whirlwind kicks.

'Something wrong?' Grimm taunted. 'I thought you were supposed to be super strong. Doesn't seem that way off the bat - or is there another explanation?'

But Rhonda had felt her bear strength flaring up almost as soon as the fight had begun. And like at the school race track, it was doing so without her chanting or concentrating - it was responding instinctively. She was simply debating what to do. If she started trying to grapple or throw punches at Grimm, he would just dodge her - that was his specialty and he was really good at it. On the other hand, if she tried to run or use her protection powers, he might hit her with another Moo Goo grenade, or go for the gun again. She needed a way to keep _him_ off balance without getting into a traditional martial arts brawl where his skill might give him the advantage. She needed something big...

Grimm blinked as Poxorza turned and gripped one of the massive A/C units, wrenching it from the rooftop with a heave and a squeal of metal. He had only a moment to admire the sheer power before the unit was sailing towards him with a rushing sound. He crouched and rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack, but had to back away yet again as another unit came at him in the wake of the first. He broke eye contact with Poxorza. The unit landed in front of him and was sliding towards him with a trail of sparks, herding him towards the edge of the rooftop.

At once, Rhonda bent down and started wrenching furiously at the Moo Goo around her boots. If the Goo had been covering her completely, she wouldn't have stood a chance. But the two orbs now surrounding each foot were small enough that she could grip into it and pry into the junction where it met with her ankle. After a few seconds of tearing off slippery chunks, she managed to rip open the Goo around her left ankle and squeeze it off. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Grimm vaulting over the second A/C unit, and the Moo Goo Guy Gun was back in his hand - she winced, realizing she had herded him right towards it.

Poxorza didn't try blocking the shots this time. Instead, Grimm saw her crabwalking backwards between two of the other A/C units. There were only about eight of them left, but the Moo Goo shots didn't hit her with any more splatters. Instead they formed a pair of slowly expanding globes on the rooftop surface. He had seen her pulling one foot free from the Goo, and frowned. He was losing the advantages he had gained. Poxorza wasn't fighting the way a person with her abilities would normally fight, and was proving more than he bargained for.

And that thought was cemented even further as she heaved loose another A/C unit and pushed it towards him in another slide, threatening to sandwich him between that one and the one already behind him. He flipped up and over, and to his surprise, Poxorza was leaping up at him, running just behind the A/C unit. They collided in mid-air and he felt Poxorza gripping tight, not to him, but to the barrel of the Moo Goo gun.

He gritted his teeth as he saw her closing her hands and squeezing the gun barrel shut at either end. At once he threw it aside and flicked his wrist, sending another grenade at her from his hip pouch. Rhonda gasped, realizing she only had two seconds before it went off - but also that Grimm had thrown it while he was too close.

Instead of exploding in front of her, it bounced off her chest, the timer still counting down. In the split second after she felt it bounce against her, she batted hard and knocked it aside, then dove as fast as she could. The grenade went off with a loud _pop_, but its momentum away from her caused all the Goo to fly the other direction, or land before it could reach her. Only one or two tiny drops fell against her suit.

During all this, Jade had hacked into the rooftop surveillance cameras and was watching the whole thing while biting her fingernails. _'Oh man...'_ she thought. _'Wish I had some popcorn...'_

Grimm had also pushed and dived away from her as soon as he had thrown the Goo grenade. He knew it was unwise to use it in such close quarters, same as with any grenade, but he didn't want to risk Poxorza getting ahold of him. He tumbled, but fell against the second A/C unit with a metallic _thunk_, sending pain lancing through his back and left shoulder. He tried to ignore it, and got back to his feet, rounding around the A/C unit to return to the fight.

'Where's Rhonda?' he shouted into his com link.

Jade shook herself out of spectator mode. 'About one minute out, G-man!' she faked.

Grimm was about to speak again, but it turned into a sharp intake of breath as Poxorza appeared around the A/C unit, hefting a large pipe she had torn loose. Grimm's training kicked in and he sidled out of its path, spinning into a perfect position to strike. He never liked hitting girls, but this was no ordinary girl. He struck hard and fast right on her nose.

Rhonda flinched under the blow, but her bear power of protection let her shrug it off. It stung, but didn't incapacitate her, and she maintained her focus. She knew if she tried to hit Grimm directly again, he would only dodge. She had felt nervous at first, throwing such big and heavy stuff at Grimm, but in the back of her mind she had known after all his time in the training yard that he was more than capable of dodging such attacks. Mustering her strength, she cocked her fist and drew back.

Grimm saw her setting up for a punch and got ready to deflect. Using an opponent's superior strength against them was one of his specialties. If he could get her to miss and throw her off balance, he would have a shot at hitting her with one of his two remaining Moo Goo grenades.

But she didn't strike at him. Instead she let fall and struck at the rooftop surface. Grimm had neatly dodged out of the way, but instead of the force from her blow missing him and being wasted, it focused with devastating effect on the rooftop. He could feel the shockwave like an expanding bubble, and also felt the rooftop surface buckling and rippling under his feet like gelatin. He nearly stumbled, and quickly shifted his balance, trying to ride the force from the shockwave instead of fighting against it.

It worked - in fact it worked a little _too_ well. His darting motion backwards carried him all the way up and over the top of the first A/C unit she had thrown at him. And as he tucked and flipped, he saw that it had come to a halt against the ledge of the rooftop. He was tumbling off the edge of the building.

Rhonda almost shouted out his name, but caught herself just in time as he disappeared over the building ledge. _'Oh man!' _she thought, dashing the spot where he had gone over. _'It's ok - he's got his grappler, he's got his grappler - oh please don't tell me he forgot his grappler!'_

Even as she leaned over to look down, she heard the familiar bursting sound and _hiss_ of a grapple line. She saw the hook clamp snag onto the building ledge about five feet to her left, and looking down, she saw Grimm turning his fall into a neat swing that would carry him back up.

'Rhonda - he's got another one on him!' Jade shouted in her earpiece. 'Don't go wobbly, now's your only chance!'

_'Sorry about this, G-man!' _Rhonda thought to herself, then she darted over to the ledge where the hook was embedded, and punched hard. With a flash of blue, she knocked the cornice loose from the ledge with the hook still caught in it. Grimm was falling again.

_Part III:_  
><em>Exit Strategery<em>

'He'll be fine!' Jade yelled. 'Just go for the platform - it's charged by now!' Jade shouted.

Rhonda needed no urging. She dashed at top speed to the cubbyhole between two of the remaining A/C units, where she had hidden the platform. The Moo Goo had expanded even more during the fight, and Rhonda groaned. She may have won the fight, but if she couldn't get away now, she would lose the overall battle. 'It's got like a whole mess of Goo covering it!' she said.

'Don't panic - is the storage compartment covered?'

Rhonda checked. The 'trunk' of the platform was at the rear. Since the front only had been hit with the Moo Goo, the small hatch was still visible. 'Yeah...' she said, bending down and fumbling it open.

'Look for a black aerosol spray can!' said Jade.

Rhonda pushed aside a wrench, a roll of duct tape, screwdriver, and two plastic pouches before she found it and pulled it out. 'Got it!'

'Pop the lid and spray the Goo like crazy!'

Rhonda did so, and the Goo started deflating like the foam from a glass of soda. Soon, the platform was clear. Quickly, she sprayed her other foot, and the Goo slid from that as well. 'That did it! I'm headed back home!'

'No _wait!_' Jade shouted.

'What?' Rhonda shouted back. 'Jade, I've gotta _move_! Grimm will be back any second...'

'Grimm is expecting 'you' to arrive!' Jade answered. 'Set the platform to auto pilot - I'll take remote control and drive it back!'

Rhonda spluttered. '_What_? I can't stay here! Showing up wearing the battle suit?! Won't that give it away?'

'Did you see some pouches in the trunk?'

'Yeah...'

'They're "his and hers" mission outfits! Grab yours and duck into the stairwell - change as fast as you can!'

Rhonda scrabbled in the trunk. One pouch was labeled "G", the other "R". She seized the R pouch and ran for the service doorway. As she reached the door and wrenched the lock open, she glanced aside at the rooftop edge. There was still no sign of Grimm. 'Jade...' she panted. 'You're a miracle worker! How did you know to keep all this stuff in the platform?'

Jade shrugged. 'Hey, Grimm's an Eagle Scout, remember? "Be Prepared", and all that? He's the one who insisted that our rides should everything we needed for an emergency - or to spring into action at a moment's notice. The bike has that stuff packed in the trunk too.'

Rhonda looked around as she pushed the door shut behind her and hammered down a couple flights of stairs. There didn't seem to be anyone around - but it was after hours, and she reasoned that most of the workers in the building had gone home for the night. Hopefully no custodians had heard the din on the roof. She ducked under one of the stairwells and started changing furiously.

'No time to shuck the suit completely!' Jade said. 'Just take off the gloves and boots and dress over it! Mask off last - without it you haven't got a communicator!'

'Right!' Rhonda gasped, pulling on her mission shirt and cargo pants and clipping on her belt. The only thing the pouch seemed to be missing was socks. She stuffed the gloves and boots rapidly into the hip pouch and sat down to pull on the mission shoes...

- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0

As he went over the building ledge, Grimm was already working out angles for his swing that would carry him back up to the roof in the best angles for attack. He slid the grapple gun from his hip pouch and fired, hearing the familiar _clank_ of the hook, and feeling the normal tug from the line that told him it had stuck firmly into the ledge. He was leaning into the swing, and reaching the lower angle of the arc that would send him sailing back up.

Then he felt a sudden lurch, and he was falling out and downward. He risked only a quick glance up to see a large chunk of the building ledge flying out into space, along with the trailing line of the grappler. _'She knocked it loose?'_ he thought angrily. _'How'd she even know I even had one of these things?'_

But he turned to his more immediate problem - a lethal plunge to the streets below, and falling debris from above. An instantaneous glance at the building he'd fallen from showed that the backup grappler would be no use - it was one of those high-rise office style buildings that was smooth mirror-like windows from floor to roof with no ledges in between. And he had fallen too far from the ledge to reach it again with the backup grappler.

The building across the street was a more traditional brick-and-mortar skyscraper with ledges and he quickly slid the backup from its holster. Twisting in mid-air, he angled his shot and fired, and was soon swinging alongside the building across the street from the battle. He heard the _whoosh_ of falling debris behind him, but lighted safely on the skyscraper ledge - about six stories below the ledge from which he'd fallen.

The evening air was whipping around him, with all things seeming quiet as he looked down and saw the pieces of the ledge land on a dumpster in a back alley. It made a sizeable dent, and a couple seconds later, the muffled _boom_ of the impact reached his ears. As he perched on the ledge, he looked back up. Poxorza was nowhere in sight. He was too far below the ledge for the grapple line to reach from where he was. He had two choices - use two or three line swings to get back up, or hit the remote on his communicator to call the bike. Either way would take at least a minute.

He winced and hit the retract control on the grappler. His feet left the ledge and he started his ascent. The fight hadn't gone anything like he'd planned. After a couple more line retractions and ascents, he was hoisting himself back onto the rooftop. Besides the scattered A/C units and several globs of Moo Goo, there was nothing else he could see. He started circling around the remaining A/C units, checking to see if Poxorza was hiding - though given her strength that seemed unlikely.

He started as he heard thumping behind the service doorway and darted into hiding behind some of the vents. A second later, the door flew open and Rhonda stormed onto the rooftop, wheezing like a winded rhinoceros. She struck a kung-fu pose and was looking left and right as she gasped.

'Ok...! Where she at? Where she at?' she said. 'Me ready fight now!'

Grimm stepped out and Rhonda yelped, but calmed down once she saw who it was. 'Forget it, she's gone.' he said glumly. 'Fight's over.'

'_What_?' Rhonda squealed. 'After everything I went through to _get_ here? That toads the wet sprocket!'

Grimm scowled as he hit the recall function on his communicator. From high above, the _Ksikkihkíni_ began to descend. 'She's got a hovercraft of her _own_.' he said. 'Let's saddle up as fast as we can. I hit her ride with some Moo Goo. if we're lucky, it'll slow her down so we can spot her, and team up against her for round two.'

Rhonda maintained a nervous silence as they got onto the bike. Grimm began a methodical sweep of the surrounding buildings, pausing every so often to confer with Jade, and sounding increasingly frustrated as the minutes ticked past with no result. 'Come on!' he said tersely. 'You're saying there's no heat signature, no... _ion trail_, no nothing?'

Jade's voice sounded a little condescending over the speaker. 'Uh, "ion trails" are just Hollywood jibber-jabber.' she said. 'Sorry G-man, but whatever she's flying, it doesn't leave bread crumbs.'

'Great.' he said, shaking his head. 'She got away, and now she knows we're onto her.'

'Knows _you're_ onto her.' Jade corrected. 'She still doesn't know about Rhonda.'

Grimm nodded. 'Well that gives us _one_ element of surprise for the next encounter.' he said sullenly. 'Hopefully tonight wasn't a total loss. I want you to hack into the building's security cameras and analyze every second of the fight. I'm gonna go over that with a fine-tooth comb.'

'That... really necessary?' said Jade cautiously. 'She's still just a musclegirl with a slick ride, isn't she?'

'Hardly.' said Grimm, and Rhonda heard a familiar tone in his voice - as if he had locked his keys in the house and was trying to think of a way to get back in without them.

_'Oh crud.' _ she thought. _'He's in riddle solving mode...'_

'The more I think on it, the more I'm convinced she _knows_ us - or knew _me_. She understood _and_ knew how to counter my equipment and my fighting style _way_ better than someone should have on a first encounter. I want to know _how_.'

'Are you mad at me, Grimm?' Rhonda blurted out. She didn't like where his thoughts were taking him, and needed to pull him off the rails. 'I really did my best to get there.'

She felt him shrug his shoulders. 'She was a lot better than I thought.' he said. 'Skilled, strong determined - and _sassy_. It'll take teamwork to bring down someone as tough as her.' Rhonda blushed a little, hearing him describe her without _knowing _it was her. 'Not blaming you, hot stuff.' he said. 'It's not like we knew to keep our schedules clear for her.'

'Yeah, imagine someone trying to _warn you in advance_ that something like this was gonna happen.' said Jade dryly. 'That's crazy talk.'

Rhonda held tight as Grimm wheeled the bike around. 'I'm going back for what's left of the Moo Goo gun, then heading back to base.' he said, though he didn't sound any less frustrated. 'She got lucky - _this_ time.'

- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0

They landed outside the suburbs of their neighborhood, and Grimm drove them back to his place. He showed every sign of wanting to do planning sessions and analysis far into the night. But as he pulled up into the driveway, they were met with the sight of his glaring and angry mother. She was holding a rag and a can of furniture polish and tapping her foot on the driveway.

Even Grimm looked uncomfortable as he glanced aside at Rhonda. 'Ah... we'll go over the mission intel tomorrow morning.' he said in a low mutter.

_'Ahem.'_ said Mrs. Probable, rather forcefully.

Rhonda quickly dismounted the bike. 'Hey, Mrs. P!' she said with a sheepish grin. 'I'll... find my own way home Grimm, thanks!'

Mrs. Probable nodded. 'Rhonda.' she said. And Rhonda turned and fled.

Grimm eased himself off the bike and made his way timidly to the stairs leading onto the porch and into the house. 'Hoo boy...' he said under his breath.

- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0

Rhonda made her way back home and to her room. The communicator she had left on her night stand was still on, and Jade was glaring from the screen even as she entered. 'Platform made it back to my place.' she said. 'Equipment check - you got the gloves, boots and mask in your pouch?'

Rhonda checked, and nodded.

Jade heaved a sigh. 'Good...' she breathed. 'Now... _What the heck were you thinking?!'_

Rhonda flinched at Jade's sudden fury, even though she was older. 'Jade I'm sorry, I just...'

_'Didn't I warn you about this? Didn't I? Didn't I say, 'Grimm could come after you'?'_

'Jade...'

_'Do you realize how close we came to a total meltdown? If it weren't for me, he might have caught you and dumped you in Mr. Matter's lair without even knowing it was you!'_

'But...'

_'And now I'm supposed to give him footage of the fight to analyze - he could still deduce it was us! Dangit, why'd you have to...'_ But Jade halted as she saw a thick tear rolling down Rhonda's face. She felt her rage disappear as Rhonda's lips quivered pitifully. 'Aw _geez_, Rhonda...' she said, putting a hand over her eyes.

'I'm sorry.' Rhonda sniffed, her voice high and strained. 'I just wanted to _help_ people...'

When Jade looked again, Rhonda had her face buried in her hands and she was sobbing. Rueful had climbed in through the still open window and laid a comforting paw on Rhonda's shoulder, while at the same time giving Jade an angry, reproachful look. 'Come on, don't _cry_.' said Jade. 'Look, I'm sorry I blew up, ok? I just didn't want you to get hurt, and this was _really_ close...'

But she stopped as Rhonda's sobbing made a gradual, but smooth transition into giggling chuckles. Rhonda had raised her head and she was smiling as she pointed at Jade mischievously. 'Gotcha!' she chirped.

'You _faked_ me?' Jade spluttered. 'Why you... I oughtta...!'

'Come on, Jade - you were foaming at the mouth, I had to calm you down.'

'You... Ooooooo!'

'Besides, you're not looking at the big picture here!' Rhonda said. 'We didn't get caught, and come on - I _fought off_ Grimm! That means I was _better_ than him!' She paused for a moment with a faraway look in her eye. 'That's... kind of a _turn-on_...' she mused.

Jade looked at her blankly for a moment. 'Rhonda - _please_ don't tell me you're turning into a junkie for this sort of thing! I'm serious - if you go out again I'm not helping. You're on your _own_.'

Rhonda was still looking blankly off into an unseen distance though, nodding absent-mindedly. 'Mmm-hmm...' she said.

Jade glared. 'And I'm _keeping_ the hover platform for now! You're... you're _grounded_, missy!'

'Aw, _mom_...' Rhonda teased.

Jade heaved a deep sigh. 'Look, I'll do what I can to edit the rooftop footage.' she said resentfully. 'But I can't stop Grimm from _deducing_ stuff. This could still blow up in our faces. I suggest you sleep it off and get ready for Graduation tomorrow!'

Rhonda smiled faintly. 'Thanks.' she said.

'Yeah, yeah...' Jade answered, getting ready to sign off.

'Oh, and Jade?'

'Hmmm?'

'You have really _weird_ taste in music.'

_Part IV:_  
><em>Graduation Day<em>

Grimm awoke the next morning with his head on his computer desk. After being forced to catch up on his chores until the late hours, he was unable to resist going over video footage of the fight on the rooftop. He eagerly downloaded everything Jade had sent and started going over it frame by frame. He kept at it until his awareness had faded out, and he had fallen asleep.

He lifted his head from a small puddle of sleep drool, hearing his mother's voice calling down the basement stairwell. 'Breakfast in ten!' she said, in the semi-musical voice that mothers always seemed to use when issuing orders.

Feeling stiff and sore, he heaved himself up and made his way to the bathroom to shower and get ready for the day. Graduation was later that evening, along with the requisite celebrations, which he didn't really feel in the mood for.

He only half-listened to his Mom and Dad going on and on about the day's itinerary during breakfast, making occasional nods and mutters of assent. But his mind was firmly back at the computer, wanting to hatch a new plan of action.

So when Rhonda showed up after breakfast for their planning session, he was eager to get started. His Mom looked at them with narrowed eyes as they retreated towards the basement. 'Mom - come on, we've got at least three hours before we even need to think about getting ready.' he said. And his mother shrugged.

Taking that as assent, he practically dragged Rhonda behind him to his room. While it must have been frustrating to his mother to see such apparent lack of interest in his own Graduation, Grimm soon became equally frustrated when both Rhonda and Jade showed a similar lack of interest in going over the Poxorza battle. Neither of them seemed eager to give opinions or advice, and he had to prompt them to even get them to speak. And when they did, they seemed to only be saying things to discourage the lines of thought he was laying out.

From Rhonda and Jade's perspective, his single-minded fixation on finding a way to beat Poxorza through analysis of the video was a dangerous mental game of chess. Each move Grimm made had to be checked somehow to keep him from getting too close to the truth.

But finally, Grimm quieted down. That made Jade and Rhonda even more nervous, because it usually meant he was thinking harder. 'You know...' he said. 'I said yesterday that I thought Poxorza _knew_ me somehow. And the more I look at her gear, the more I get the feeling that I've seen it before...'

'Uh... I'm hungry!' Rhonda blurted out. 'I could use some snacks - anyone else want snacks?'

'Yeah...' said Jade, even though she wasn't really in the room, and it hadn't been that long since breakfast. 'Snacks - that sounds good!'

But Grimm didn't seem to hear them. He was staring like a laser at the screen, which showed Poxorza frozen in place. 'That gear _is_ familiar...' he said.

'Why don't we take a break and I'll head up to the fridge?' Rhonda said quickly. 'Grimm - what do you want? Hmm? Want anything?'

'_No_.' he said suddenly and firmly, and Rhonda froze as he stared right at her. 'I think I see what's going on. It's pretty obvious when you put all the pieces together.'

Rhonda's face went pale. Her lip trembled as Grimm looked her straight in the eyes. Her heart pounded wildly and she thought she would faint.

'Dementor got his battle suit tech up and running faster than we thought.' he said.

Rhonda's felt her jaw dropping. _'Hah...?'_ she said.

'It explains almost everything.' said Grimm, turning back to the screen. 'Poxorza has a battle-suit, but it's not _complete_...' he backed up the video to where Poxorza blocked the Moo Goo shots and paused. 'It's got shield tech, but it can't put up a full body shield. Dementor must still be working out the bugs. It didn't have the boosters, or the hand modules... and the stealth...'

Both Jade and Rhonda jumped in their seats as Grimm slapped his hand hard on the desk. 'The stealth mode!' he said. '_That's_ how she got away from us last night! That's why she took time out for that little fracas - she was letting the stealth mode recharge!'

'Uh...' said Rhonda, looking for an opening to try and derail his thought again. But Grimm's eyes were lighting up as he rewound the footage to when the hovercraft was lighting on the rooftop. Jade had kept those shots blurred and choppy, but even so, Grimm froze at one point where the platform was in view.

'That hovercraft... Jade, it uses similar tech to your MRT's!' he said eagerly. 'But it looks like that's not complete either. Another one of Dementor's tries at reverse engineering! He must have scanned the bike when we came in to deliver the tridyplatinum the other day_. Ha! _He should have called Dr. Drakken. He's better at ripping off other people's tech.'

Jade and Rhonda were glancing at each other sidelong through the chat screen. Both of them had similar 'deer in the headlight' expressions. Grimm had deduced all the equipment, but gotten the identity wrong. But it was still _way_ too close for comfort. Even if they played along and acted like they were suspicious of Dementor, it would only take a little snooping for Grimm to figure out that Dementor wasn't the brains behind Poxorza. 'I still want those snacks...' said Jade with a grimace.

Grimm was back to staring quietly at the video footage. 'The question is, how did he get an operative _here_ in Riddleton?' he said softly. 'Did he plant a bug and track us somehow? Our precautionary measures normally block that... But if he made a special tracking device that we couldn't detect, he might have ripped off some specs from your computers, Jade.' He paused and shook his head with a sniff. 'It's actually a pretty clever way to test drive the suit without drawing attention to himself. Busting up robberies and muggers? Who would suspect Dementor of doing _that_? Still, if he knows where Riddleton is, that's not good. We'll have to tell dad and the Black Ops, or Dementor could compromise the bigwigs who live here, or blackmail them to keep the location secret.'

'But... I thought Dementor wanted the battle-suit for _himself_.' said Rhonda. 'He wouldn't share it with whatz-her-face, would he?'

'Yeah, that _is_ a puzzler.' said Grimm thoughtfully. 'But if the suit is only partly done, Dementor could be using this Poxorza lady to work out the kinks. Then when it's done, he'll broom her and take it back. If he does, I hope he changes the bands from _pink_ to some other color. So... who's the mystery woman? Dementor doesn't have any _girls_ in his posse that we know of. He probably didn't hire Shego - for some weird reason she keeps sticking with Drakken - when he's not in jail.'

Rhonda and Jade weren't sure exactly how to chime in. But thankfully, Grimm seemed to have slowed down. He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his chin with a finger. 'Well we've got more info now, enough to give a status update to Mr. Matter anyway.' he said at last. 'I'll drop him a line tomorrow. In the meantime, we've got a Graduation to get ready for. Good work, people!'

Rhonda wasn't at all happy that Grimm seemed so encouraged at their apparent progress. But any attempt to throw him off the scent would be even more suspicious. She felt numb as he gave her a quick good-bye kiss, promising to see her later at the High School, and she went home in a kind of daze.

Once Rhonda was gone, and Jade's chat window was closed, Grimm still spent a fair bit of time going over the video footage yet again. But rather than trying to pick out weaknesses and clues, he found himself admiring Poxorza's fighting style. Graceless though it was, she had still countered him. It had been frustrating - _enjoyably_ frustrating, like trying to beat a really good basketball player at Horse. You wanted a comfortable lead, but it never seemed to play out that way. Always staying neck and neck, with your opponent just a little bit ahead...

And listening to _music_ during the chase? Like he wasn't even a threat? That made him want to challenge her even more. He sighed and shook his head. Was he feeling some kind of weird desire to _impress_ this super femme?

_'Man...'_ he thought. _'Have I got a _thing _for any girl who can outfight me? First Possible, and now this? What's wrong with me?'_

- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0

It didn't seem like much more time had passed before Grimm felt he couldn't delay any longer. He washed up, dressed in formal clothes, and donned his cap and gown. Pausing to look in the mirror, he felt like he was wearing a silly costume for a convention of some kind. Graduations were the only times people ever dressed like this, which made it seem almost wasteful.

But when he came up, his mother looked adoringly at him, and his father beamed proudly - particularly at the honor colors on his sash. Even Lynn and Mim seemed uncharacteristically impressed. His mother seemed to want to document the entire evening, and insisted on pictures, even before leaving the house.

And as they were preparing to file into the garage, she gave him a small hug and appeared to be wiping away a tear. 'Oh Grimm, we're so _proud_ of you...' she said.

Grimm hugged her back briefly. 'Come on, Mom.' he said, embarrassed. 'It's not like you and Dad didn't play a big part in all this.'

She patted him on the shoulder as she let go. 'Well, even so.' she said.

'Come on, honey.' said his father with a quiet nod. 'You won't be able to show him off if we're late.'

As the car drove away from the house, Grimm looked out around the neighborhood. _'Look out, world!'_ he thought. _'Next time you see Team Probable - we'll have gone pro!'_

The car disappeared in the distance. Behind, the Probable house was quiet except for the rustling of the tree leaves outside. And after a few more moments... _nothing happened_.

- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0

After so many years of taking the bus, or biking, or later using the _Ksikkihkíni_, being driven to the High School in the family car felt strange. Grimm got out of the car once they parked, and already the collar of his gown was feeling scratchy. Lynn and Mim were forced to alternate as camera holders while his Mom demanded that pictures be taken in several different locations, including in front of E. Nygma's statue, the front doors, the trophy case, and so on. And in each location, pictures had to be taken of Grimm alone, then with the parents, then with each individual parent, then with his sisters, and with the whole family when they could corral a passer-by to take the shots.

Grimm's only consolation during this was that he could see he wasn't the _only_ one being run through this gauntlet. Every parent was doing the same with their own child. He caught glimpses of Rhonda and her family doing likewise here and there, and sometimes gathering together at turns to take photos and videos of each other.

Meeting other families on the grounds and in the halls only drew out the process. Even families they didn't know or interact with all that much were still greeted and chatted up with handshakes and hugs and congratulations all around - though Grimm was glad that the Stoneports weren't among them.

Grimm heard the same thing, or close to it, being said over and over by the parents - about how proud they were, how they couldn't believe this day had come so fast, how it had seemed like only yesterday when... And in Grimm's ears it all melded together into a background buzz.

The school halls seemed to have an almost otherworldly appearance to them now - unnaturally clean and sterile, with glimpses into the classrooms showing rigidly straight desks. It was as if the rooms were somehow closed for good now that they were leaving, and had been converted into museum displays for their bygone age.

But eventually everyone started gravitating towards the auditorium. The auditorium of Riddleton High was large enough for the whole graduating class, as well as their families in the bleachers. Grimm could feel that the air was already getting warmer and stuffy, with so many people breathing in one place and with all the stage lights on.

The main floor of the auditorium, normally used for basketball games, was now filled with chairs, and an elaborate stage set up, opposite to the bleachers. Soon, Grimm's parents and sisters split apart from him and made their way to the bleachers, where hundreds of people were already seated. Grimm joined his classmates behind a curtained section that screened them out of everyone's view.

All the seniors were gathered there, chatting and looking anxious. Through the talk and mutters of his fellow graduates, he heard Rhonda's chirpy voice behind him. 'Hey Grimm!'

'Hey, Rhon...' he turned, getting his first really clear look at her since arriving, and then his voice failed him. Rhonda stood in front of him, looking utterly radiant. Her hair was down, but it looked... different somehow. So did the rest of her. She was wearing heeled shoes and stockings, and he realized suddenly that he'd hardly ever seen her in anything but mission shoes. Maybe it was just that the outfit was so different than their normal school and work clothes, but the look fit her well. Wearing her cap and gown made her look somehow older, more mature... and _glamorous_. 'Woah - you look... great.' he said at last.

'Thanks.' she said. From his perch on her shoulder, Rueful was trilling and nodding. He was wearing a small graduation cap of his own, and looking almost smug.

'I...' Grimm started, but then his communicator buzzed in his hip pouch. Fishing it out through the graduation robe, he flipped it on.

'You brought _that_ to graduation?' said Rhonda, grimacing slightly.

'Be prepared.' Grimm shrugged. 'What is it, Jade?' he said.

'Hey, lookin' _sharp_, guys!' Jade chirped, and Rhonda smiled, straightening her cap. 'Anyhoo G-man, I got confirmation on that thing you asked about. Looks like the Middleton graduations are on a different schedule. You guys are first!'

'Nice - thanks, Jade.' And he pocketed the communicator again. 'All _right_!' he said, turning to Rhonda. 'We beat Possible to the punch yet again! I'll have to send them a message somehow to let them know they came in second.' He expected her to be smiling, and was surprised to see her sighing and rolling her eyes.

'_Yeesh_ Grimm - can't you forget about them for one _day_?' she said. 'How does graduating a few days before them make any difference?' And she actually turned away to say hi to Felicia, who was elbowing her way through the sea of gowned seniors.

Grimm was caught a bit flatfooted by the rebuke. When they'd first encountered Team Possible, Rhonda had been just as eager to get in their face as he had been. But hearing her talk like this - like she was _bored_ of competing with them, it made him feel awkweird, as if he had let her down in some way. He was still trying to think of a way to respond, but Rhonda and Felicia were hugging, while Felicia was talking about giving the Valedictorian speech later. And all that was interrupted when Ms. Darken came in to stand at a raised podium.

'Attention, graduates!' she barked, and everyone turned, their chit-chat ebbing to silence. Grimm blinked, because even Ms. Darken looked different - her normal grey clothes now covered by the formal garb for graduation duties. She also seemed more sophisticated and important, and Grimm started wondering if there really _was_ something to the silly caps and robes after all.

'The ceremonies will begin presently, and I _order_ all of you to refrain from any exuberance, waving to the crowd, throwing of caps, or other unauthorized displays until _after_ the event is complete.' Ms. Darken said flatly. 'You have all been rehearsed and trained for this day, and now is the time for you to prove that my efforts to lift you from point A to point B have not been squandered...'

And so it began. Grimm took his place as the Senior class arranged themselves behind the curtain dividers into an alphabetical line by last names, though he was placed in a separate line among the other honor students. He heard the school band playing beyond the divider, as well as the low murmur of the assembled crowd. And then Ms. Darken's voice, booming out in an echoing wave, muffled and indistinct as she called the crowd to attention and began going through the program...

Rhonda was feeling butterflies in her stomach and it seemed like they were all working hard to breed fresh caterpillars. _'Ooooh, it's finally here - it's really happening!'_ she thought over and over. She was excited by the whole experience. Everyone looked so neat in their gowns, dressed so formal. She remembered putting on her mom's shoes when she was just a kid, clonking around and pretending to be grown up. But now she _was_ grown up, and she glanced down at her heeled shoes wistfully, noting how perfectly they fit. She wasn't just pretending anymore, it wasn't make-believe or a game.

And she couldn't understand why Grimm looked so _bored_. Four years of work to graduate, and he didn't seem excited. Taking communicator messages from Jade, and acting like he was more interested in getting his diploma before _Kim Possible_ than anything else. Couldn't he set work aside for a while and just... enjoy the moment?

But now the honor students, with Grimm among them, were heading out beyond the curtain dividers to begin their parade around the auditorium before taking their seats. Rhonda nodded to Rueful, and both of them adjusted their caps. Soon the regular students would follow. _'All right, Rhonda Fatigable,'_ she thought. _'You're as ready as you'll ever be!'_

Keeping with Ms. Darken's orders, Grimm only smiled and nodded to his parents and sisters up in the stands when Lynn and Mim whooped. Then he took his place in the seats reserved for the honor students, and waited patiently while all the other students followed them out, circled around the seats, and then took their assigned places like a dog and pony show for humans instead of animals.

Then it was time for the speeches. And Grimm felt his mind wandering. Sure enough, barely two minutes into the first speech, he heard the words 'hope' and 'change' and 'future' all in one paragraph, and he sent a smug glare towards Ms. Darken, who seemed to be avoiding looking back at him.

He thought it would be tactless to take out his communicator and start checking emails, so he tried to occupy himself by reading idly through the program. He hit the part where they were at now, going through the list. Since he had engineered things so that he would not be valedictorian, he was not surprised to see that Felicia had been shoo-in for the honor after him.

There were several other speakers, including various honor students, important members of the community, and Ms. Darken herself. All of them seemed dryball, boiler plate, conventional... exactly what one would expect from speakers who had been coached for such an event. No surprises whatsoever, and nothing particularly exciting. So he started skipping ahead in the program to see what was next. After the speakers, the diploma presentation was set to take place. Then after that were presentations from various clubs in the school...

And he stared at the list, seeing something he hadn't noted before - the Chess club was among them.

Rhonda stared with wide, sparkling eyes at every speaker on the stage, hanging on every word. _'Wow...'_ she thought. _'Hope, change, the future... this is all pure gold! How do they come up with this stuff?'_

Then she heard a whisper from where the honor students were seated. _'Rhonda?'_

'Yes?' came an answering whisper, from Rhonda Ruegger, a member of the AV club.

'No, not _you_ Rhonda, _my_ Rhonda!' Grimm hissed, and Rhonda Ruegger sniffed and turned back to look at the speaker podium.

_'What?'_ Rhonda whispered.

'You and the chess club have a number set up?' Grimm whispered.

'Yeah.' she nodded, only glancing at him.

'And I wasn't in on it?'

'I didn't think you'd be interested.' she shrugged. 'I mean, you don't like being on stage, right? You never want to be a star, you just want to stay here on Earth...'

'What's _that_ supposed to mean?' Grimm said, a little louder. But then he glanced up, hearing a grating _ahem_ from the stands. Ms. Darken was glaring at them with eyes blazing, and Grimm retreated back into sitting posture and silence.

He brooded on what had just happened for a few minutes, and the talks being given became background muttering for his thoughts. The thing was, Rhonda was _right _in saying he didn't like being in the spotlight. He'd always preferred working from behind the curtains. But it hurt that Rhonda didn't even bother _asking_ him, so he could make it his own choice.

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted as he heard the word _valedictorian_. Ms. Darken was at the stage podium again. '...from our Valedictorian, Felicia Rexton!'

Rhonda was whooping as her best girl friend walked down the aisle between the rows of seats and climbed to the stage. Rueful was doing the 'rah rah' gesture, and everyone was applauding. Grimm joined in, but only half-heartedly, his eyes still on Rhonda.

Felicia was beaming as she stood at the podium. _'Hope, and change, and the future!'_ she started out, and Grimm breathed out something between a sigh and a _yuck_.

_'These are the things that inspired all of us to make it this far, to stand here on this day. As I stand before you all tonight, I see the faces of friends. Friends who have become an extended family. And like all families, we've had our ups and downs. But we will rise above our fear of the unknown road that lies ahead - knowing that Graduation is not the end of the world, but the start of a whole new world - for all of us._

_ We all worked hard to get here, and this is our year - this is our day. But in the midst of celebrating ourselves and our achievements, we should not forget the thanks we owe to all the people who helped us obtain them. So as Valedictorian, and a representative of the Riddleton High graduating class, I wish to express our collective gratitude. To our supportive families, to our patient, hardworking teachers, and especially to Principal Darken, who kept driving us to be our best - even when we didn't want to._

_ And personally, to my best friend Rhonda Fatigable. Her never quit attitude always reminded me, and should remind us all, that if you keep trying and never give up - you really can do anything!'_

There was thunderous applause as Felicia ended. Then the school band ground into action, playing the traditional graduation fanfare, and Ms. Darken began reading off names, beginning with the honor students. Grimm counted down the letters in the alphabet until Ms. Darken reached the letter _P_, and Grimm squared his shoulders when Ms. Darken read his name.

_'Grimm Probable.'_

He wasn't expecting a wave of applause from the crowd, so he was not disappointed. He heard the voices of his own family and Rhonda's family from the stands, as well as a few others from his fellows in the gymnastics team. But he'd never been hugely popular at school. The stage lights partially blinded him so he couldn't well see his family up in the bleachers, but he waved and nodded again in the direction of his sisters' whoops as he circled the stage, then made his way up the stairs.

Ms. Darken nodded curtly to him as she handed him his diploma cover, he nodded back, and that was it. He completed his walk to the stairs at the other end of the stage, back down, and retook his seat. He smoothed a hand over the textured surface of the cover as the remainder of the honor students followed the same routine.

_'Donald Stoneport.'_

Unlike Rhonda, Donnie seemed to agree with Grimm that picking up his own diploma _after_ Grimm had picked up his was like losing a race. He stared at Grimm with slitted eyes as he took his diploma cover, and Grimm smirked up at him, jostling his own cover in his lap.

Then it was time for the remainder of the students to follow suit. With Rhonda's family name coming so soon in the alphabet, she didn't have nearly as long a wait.

_'Rhonda Fatigable.'_

Rhonda eagerly flounced onto the stage with Rueful on her shoulder, and cheers broke out among the assembly. The cheers for Rhonda seemed much louder and prolonged than his own had been. And Ms. Darken was actually _smiling_ as she handed Rhonda her diploma cover. Though reading her lips, Grimm caught her mouthing the words _non-conformist punk_ to Rhonda. Rhonda didn't seem to mind though, and was beaming at the crowd as she made her way back down to her seat.

She winked at Grimm as she passed by, clutching her diploma cover like it was made of gold instead of faux leather. He smiled and nodded, then settled in to watch the rest of the Senior class making the trek up onto the stage.

By now Grimm thought it would be trying the patience of the crowd to drag things out much longer, but enthusiasm seemed to build as the club presentations began. There were four, and the Chess Club was the third. So Rhonda and the other Chess Club members got up and made their way back behind the curtain dividers to get ready.

When their turn came, they had not swapped out of their graduation robes as they took their places on stage. Rueful was even helping, manning the turntable.

They looked both impressive, and silly, as a band on stage while still in their robes and caps. But when they started playing, Grimm forgot all about that, seeing only Rhonda, bathed in the spotlight like an angel. He'd heard her sing many times before, mostly jamming with her animal buddies or doing air guitar numbers. He'd even seen her doing other numbers with the rest of the Chess Club. Maybe it was his imagination, but somehow they seemed to be playing better, and Rhonda's voice seemed more mellow, deep and... just _cooler_. He knew the tune, another moldy oldie, the kind that Rhonda always liked jamming to, but clearly she'd been ordered to tweak the lyrics for the occasion, probably by Ms. Darken.

_We've reached our dreams  
><em>_we've got our wish, we've got our fantasy!  
><em>_We're heading out into the world,  
><em>_got ev'rything that we need!_

_We're reaching high, right to the stars,  
><em>_with ev'ry deed that we do,  
><em>_so let's be strong and let's be faithful  
><em>_'cause I'm counting on  
><em>_A new beginning  
><em>_A reason for living  
><em>_A deeper meaning, yeah!_

Grimm felt his cheeks reddening. Not because he was embarrassed for, or because of her. On the contrary, she was doing great. It was because Rhonda had spent the bulk of her High School years being made fun of and dissed by almost all her classmates. He was sure that they would start chuckling, sneering or otherwise disrespecting her on stage, as they usually had before.

But as he looked around, he saw that the rest of the graduates were looking either quietly impressed, or open mouth astonished. Even Donnie Stoneport was looking back and forth between him and Rhonda with an expression that seemed to say, _'Where's the geekette, and who's the supermodel you replaced her with?'_ And Ms. Darken's normal stony, tooth-gritted look of disapproval was gone, replaced with the single, slightly arched eyebrow which was the only visual sign of enjoyment she ever displayed.

The music had started off gentle and slow, but suddenly the Chess club sped up the beat and the tempo, injecting a fast, dance club techno style into it, and Rhonda's voice and stage energy spiked to match it.

_I want to stand with you on a mountain!  
><em>_I want to swim with you in the sea!  
><em>_I want to lay like this forever!  
><em>_Until the sky falls down on me!_

And suddenly the whole audience, the seniors and spectators alike, were cheering and whooping as if they were really at a rock concert, watching a star performer doing their favorite number. Rhonda even seemed to feed off of that, her usually clumsy stage dancing now more graceful as she kept singing fast and evenly.

_And when the stars are shining  
><em>_brightly in the velvet sky,  
><em>_I'll make a wish send it to heaven|  
><em>_Then make you want to cry!_

_The tears of joy for all the  
><em>_pleasure and the certainty!  
><em>_That we're surrounded by the  
><em>_comfort and protection of  
><em>_The highest powers!  
><em>_In lonely hours,  
><em>_The tears devour you!_

As Rhonda performed, Ms. Darken showed signs of wanting to tone Rhonda down a bit, but the positive reaction of the crowd seemed to resign her to let it go on. Ms. Darken wasn't actually tapping her foot, but Grimm definitely saw that her toes were flexing within her heeled shoe in time to the music as the second chorus began.

_I want to stand with you on a mountain!  
><em>_I want to swim with you in the sea!  
><em>_I want to lay like this forever!  
><em>_Until the sky falls down on me!_

As Rhonda kept performing, Grimm noted that there was a bluish glow just below her left shoulder. He winced. Her birthmark was flaring up again, the usual sign that the power of the Great Bear Spirit was flowing through her. And like on the race track the other day, it seemed to be doing so without her bidding, or even noticing that it was happening. He couldn't rush on stage and drag her down with everyone watching. He could only grimace and hope that in the energy of the performance, with the stage lights and other distractions, that no one would notice. Or if they did, that they would think it was just part of the number. It was muffled by her dress and her robe, to no brighter than a glow stick, and the Chess Club _did_ have several glow sticks taped to their drumsticks, guitars and other instruments.

But he wondered why this was happening _now_. The power of the Great Bear was usually only something Rhonda could call on when she, or someone she cared about, was in danger. Surely the Great Bear wouldn't want to 'help' Rhonda with something so trivial as a _musical number_. Nevertheless, he couldn't deny that she was performing flawlessly, her movements flowing smoothly from one to the other, and without so much as a trip on her robes.

_Oh can you see it baby?  
><em>_You don't have to close your eyes  
><em>_'Cause it's standing right before you,  
><em>_All that you need will surely come!_

_I want to stand with you on a mountain!  
><em>_I want to swim with you in the sea!  
><em>_I want to lay like this forever!  
><em>_Until the sky falls down on me!_

The number finished with another wave of cheers and prolonged applause from the crowd. Some were even standing, her own parents among them. Rhonda beamed, waved and bowed, motioning the crowd to the Chess Club standing behind her with their instruments. Grimm was applauding numbly along with everyone else as they filed off the stage, and Ms. Darken went on through the last of the program.

Grimm wanted to congratulate Rhonda first, but he wasn't able to even see her through other seniors in the row giving her back pats and high-fives as she made her way to her chair, grinning and blushing. Rueful was on her shoulder, accepting every handshake that came her way.

After the last club performance, the program came to its end and Ms. Darken went to the podium to close the ceremony. '...please move your tassels to the left side of your caps.' she said, and there was a flutter of hands as this was done. Ms. Darken nodded. 'And with that, I give my congratulations to Riddleton High's Senior Class - well done, and the very best of luck to you, in all of your future endeavors!'

A roar of high pitched shouts rose in the auditorium as the students threw their caps into the air in celebration.

The band was playing music while the graduates and their families began the organized chaos of filing out of the auditorium and onto the grounds. Grimm and Rhonda made their way through hugging family members and clusters of whooping friends.

'We _did_ it!' Rhonda said, shuffling in place. 'We're graduates! _Eeeeeeeeee!'_

Grimm smiled indulgently and tapped his diploma cover against hers like a wine glass. 'Don't burn out too early, babe.' he smiled. 'There's still the farewell party.'

'I know,' Rhonda said, grinning from ear to ear, 'But... _Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!'_

Once they managed to reach their families through the milling crowds, it was a repeat performance of hugs, back pats and marathon photo taking, now with Rhonda and Grimm holding up their diploma covers for the cameras.

'Yeesh, Mom.' said Grimm, after the third round of pictures. 'We may as well just strap a camera boom to my head and document the whole day...'

'Don't give me any ideas.' she said from behind her camera, and clicking away.

Rhonda had even more to deal with than Grimm. She was besieged with people, families and fellow graduates who were congratulating her on the musical number. _'Or sucking up.'_ Grimm thought resentfully. He noted that many of the people fawning over her now were the same ones who wouldn't give her the time of day during four years of taking classes together. If it were up to him, he would have told them all to hit the bricks. But Rhonda took it in stride, treating each and every well-wisher like they had always been best friends.

There came a lull while they were standing on the edge of the High School grounds. Both their families were talking with members of other families, swapping congratulatory words and handshakes. The crowds around them were starting to thin just a little, and both Grimm and Rhonda were stretching their stiff backs.

'How're the feet?' said Grimm.

'Killing me.' Rhonda grimaced. 'So when do we get our _actual_ diplomas?'

'Sometime next week. They're mailing them. Something about wanting to make sure they arrive flat.'

'It's _parchment_, of course it's _flat_.' Rhonda sniffed. 'You'd think it would be easier to just put them _in_ the diploma covers while they're handing them to us.'

'And risk giving someone the wrong diploma? Ms. Darken's not gonna do that. If they did it like that, we'd still be only half-way through the presentations.'

Rueful was tapping Rhonda on her shoulder and chirruping. She looked at him, and followed where he was pointing with his paw. At the very edge of the grounds, where the manicured grass turned into the trees and thickets of a wooded grove, there was a pack of about six wild weasels. They were half hidden in the shade of the overhanging shrub leaves, and all staring at Rhonda with glittering eyes.

One of them darted out a few feet, standing on his hind legs and sniffing while the others hung back. Rhonda stooped down and petted him, smiling brightly. 'Well aren't _you_ the brave one!' she said, scratching him behind his ears. The weasel leaned his head into Rhonda's fingers, thumping one hind leg on the ground. After a few seconds, he darted back into the shrubs, and Grimm could have sworn he saw the weasel high-fiving his fellows as they all vanished into the undergrowth.

At that moment, Cousin Mary showed up, and she and Rhonda started comparing their diplomas and chatting. Ever sharp-eared, Grimm heard a male voice not far behind him speaking in a low mutter. 'Wish _I_ was a weasel...'

He turned and saw two members of the football team, standing in their caps and gowns and carrying their own diploma covers. They were also looking at Rhonda with dull, vacant smiles.

He stepped up to them, and while he didn't raise his voice, there was no hiding his irritation. 'Hey,' he said curtly. 'You wanna try saying that with the _boyfriend_ listening?'

Grimm wasn't even sure what their names were - he had never followed football much through High School. But both of them rolled their eyes and waved a palm out. 'Ok fine, sorry dude.' said one, and they both turned to leave. But even as they were leaving, he heard the other one saying under his breath. 'She could do better than _him_.'

Grimm was half tempted to call them out again, but he shook his head and turned back towards his still-chatting family and to Rhonda. _'Yet another reason why I never tried out for football.' _he grumbled.

_Part V_  
><em>To The Stars We Go<em>

The Riddleton sky was fading to dusk as the sun lowered, and Grimm was heading to Rhonda's place in a rental car. He had eschewed renting a limo, settling instead for a nice, black 2-door sedan. Taking the bike seemed out of place, and Rhonda was worried about her hair getting mussed if they flew on the _Ksikkihkíni_.

After getting back home, he had stowed his diploma cover, ditched the cap and gown, and re-adjusted his outfit for the evening activities. Picking up Rhonda so formally seemed odd, given how often they went out together. But he was looking forward to spending some time with just the two of them and no family members breathing down their necks.

So he knocked on the Fatigable's door, and was ushered in by Rhonda's mellow-voiced father. Her mother was holding little Indy, who looked restless and was squirming in the crook of her arm. Mr. Fatigable was hoisting a camera as he called up the stairs.

'Rhonda, your _date_ is here!' he said mischievously.

'Coming!' came Rhonda's muffled voice from upstairs. And Grimm felt surprise yet again as she rounded the corner and descended slowly.

He decided that Rhonda shopping for gowns and being late for the Poxorza battle had all been worth it. She looked amazing in a form-fitting black dress with matching gloves that went nearly to her shoulders. Her hair was in an up-do, which he'd never seen her use before. He knew it was hard work and a major pain to fix hair that way, but he kind of wished she could keep it like that.

The camera paused in its clicking for a moment, and Grimm felt Mrs. Fatigable put a hand under his jaw, nudging it up. 'Mouth closed dear, you'll catch flies.' she said. 'And for pity's sake - _corsage_?'

Grimm flushed a little as he sprang into action, taking the corsage from its plastic case and pinning it gingerly to the strap of her left sleeve. 'You look _awesome_.' he said.

'_Yeah_ I do!' she said.

He held out his elbow. 'Shall we, then?'

'Oh yes _let's_.' she chirped, acting giddily formal.

'Normal curfew is waived for tonight, but remember, I have _operatives_.' said Mr. Probable, smiling, but with slightly narrowed eyes.

'Yes _sir_.' said Grimm with a nod.

'_Dad_...' said Rhonda, flushing bright red. But she slid her arm around Grimm's elbow and they stepped out into the evening air. Rhonda waved at Rueful who was winking savagely at them from her window upstairs. They were just heading down the steps when Grimm's communicator rang - not with Jade's normal ringtone, but with a simulated old style telephone bell. 'Promise you're gonna leave that in the car when we get to the party.' Rhonda growled.

'Promise made.' Grimm winced. 'I thought I'd left it at home...' But he fished it out and answered it anyway.

'Mr. Probable?' came a female voice.

Both Grimm and Rhonda paused, looking at each other. '_Leigh_?' said Grimm.

'My apologies for interrupting your evening.' came the voice of Leigh Gality, the lawyer that Team Probable used for special operations. 'Would you please swing by my office on your way to the farewell celebration? There is a matter some urgency I need to discuss with you. The sooner the better. I wouldn't have asked, but my office _is_ on the way to your evening activities.'

Grimm sighed, looking at Rhonda, who looked annoyed. 'We were just on our way.' Grimm said. 'Can't it wait till tomorrow?'

'Technically - no.' she said. 'It's an issue that must be addressed rather quickly.'

He glanced at Rhonda, who rolled her eyes and nodded. 'All right, we'll be right over.' he said. 'But can we make it fast?'

'I'd prefer it brief, yes.' Leigh answered, then hung up.

Rhonda shook her head as Grimm opened the car door for her. 'What does _she_ want?' she groused.

Grimm circled the car and got in, shrugging his shoulders. 'Beats me. Guess I'll find out. But don't bother coming up - I'm gonna keep it under ten minutes. Time me.'

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Before long, he was parking the car in front of the high-rise law building in downtown Riddleton where Leigh Gality worked. It was everything one would expect of a legal firm, with fluted columns outside, marble surfaces everywhere, the office areas awash with dark maroon carpeting and mahogany desks.

Grimm had been there only a few times, and rushed through the building now so he could get the meeting finished as fast as possible. The offices were mostly empty, almost everyone had gone home for the night. He skidded to halt outside of a door with a marble plaque in which the words _Leigh Gality_ were engraved with gold letters. He knocked on the door, and Leigh opened it, ushering him in.

'Grimm.' she said, nodding. 'Thank you for coming on such short notice. I apologize again for interrupting your graduation day.'

Grimm nodded back and took a seat, feeling a bit odd. Leigh had known and worked with the team for a long time now, and things between them were usually more casual. But being dressed in his tux, and with Leigh acting so professional, the meeting felt strangely _formal_. 'No problem.' he said. 'But we're expected, so can we get this over with?'

Leigh circled around and sat behind her desk. She straightened some papers, took off her glasses and sighed, not making eye contact. 'Very well.' she said, looking up at him at last. 'You and Rhonda have graduated High School. That means - you are both of age.'

'Yeah...' said Grimm, with a wary nod. 'So?'

'It means that I can no longer represent you, or your team, as I have in the past.'

Grimm felt his brows knitting reflexively. '_What_?' he said.

Leigh looked away again. 'I regret that it has to be this way.' she said, standing back up and looking out of the window. 'But as you are well aware - a wholly _different_ set of rules apply to defending legal adults as opposed to juveniles.'

Grimm swallowed. Leigh was right of course, as she always was. It was one of the reasons why he liked having her as backup for legal situations. She knew all the ins and outs of the law. 'Are you _dumping_ us as clients?' he said.

'Not necessarily.' she said. 'We've shared a profitable and mutually beneficial arrangement up until now. But the simple fact is, the law can no longer protect Team Probable in the same way - now that you're of age.'

Grimm shook his head, taken aback, feeling almost like he had when Poxorza had foiled him and escaped. 'Come on Leigh, you're smarter than that.' he said. 'You could find a way to represent us if you _wanted_ to. There's something you're not telling me.'

'You're an intelligent boy...' Leigh shook her head, closing her eyes for a moment. '...an intelligent _man_, Grimm.' she said. 'As I said, our arrangement has worked well for both of us until now. But it has always been risky. Your activities walk a razor's edge, and I'm surprised you haven't fallen off yet. You've said it yourself many times. _You can only win when you pick the right battles._ If I try to defend your team's... _exploits_ now as I have in the past, it won't fly. The protections you had as underage children no longer exist. Yes - I can still represent you. But the risks - and therefore the _expense_ - will become considerably larger.'

'Only if we get caught.' said Grimm. 'If we just play things carefully...'

'_Dumb luck doesn't last forever._' said Leigh. 'Another thing I've heard you say before.'

Grimm and Leigh stared at each other in silence for some time. At last, Leigh sighed again. 'I have drawn up a series of documents,' she said, lifting a thick manila folder from her desk. 'To re-negotiate our... arrangement. If you will sign them, and accept the new risks, I can continue to act as your legal representative. If not, then we must regrettably go our separate ways.'

She handed him the folder, and Grimm took it, looking at the many papers neatly tucked inside. 'I'll... get back to you once I've gone through it.' he said.

'Once Ms. Omo-sa goes through it, I presume you mean.' she answered. 'I think she will find it is tough, but fair.'

Grimm felt nettled by the slight, but didn't answer. He nodded curtly, then turned and stumped towards the office door. As he turned the knob and opened, he heard Leigh's voice behind him.

'My apologies, Grimm.' she said. 'But growing up means that things _must_ change. Enjoy your farewell dance.'

Grimm only half-glanced back towards her. His smirk failed him, leaving his face nearly expressionless as he paused only for a split second, then he left and closed the door behind him.

In the elevator, Grimm looked into the folder. A mere glance at the first paragraph told him it was the usual legal mumbo-jumbo that became incomprehensible gibberish the more you tried to sift through it. It was one of the reasons why having a good lawyer was so important - only _they_ could really understand and take advantage of the documents they wrote which served to tie the hands and disrupt the lives of everyone else.

He scowled as he made his way through the lobby to the exit. He didn't want to lose Leigh as part of the team. But to keep her on, he'd have to look through and see how much it was going to cost them. He had no doubt the price would be stiff - even with as much money as they'd saved. _'Enjoy the dance.'_ he thought bitterly, roughly pushing open the thick glass doors. _'Yeah - while throwing this mess on the pile next to everything else.'_

He crossed the plaza and got into the rental car. Rhonda was there, still looking gorgeous in her gown. 'So what'd she want?' she said.

Grimm almost told her, wanting to launch off about this to someone. But instead he rolled his eyes, waving the manila folder. 'Just... legal stuff.' he said, trying to sound as dismissive as possible. 'You know how lawyers are. We'll go over it later with Jade. Right now, we've got a party to get to.' And he threw the folder into the back seat.

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Grimm did indeed try to enjoy the rest of the evening, and to put other things out of his mind. The Poxorza situation, their lack of headway on the grass vandal job, his parents bugging him about college, Rhonda's unexplained spontaneous bursts with the Great Bear's power, and now the sitch with Leigh. It seemed hard to imagine that just a couple of weeks ago, he felt like the team had been riding high.

And while these issues buzzed near the back of his thoughts, he mostly focused on enjoying the night with Rhonda. Ms. Darken had set up an elaborate farewell party at a Riddleton convention hall, with a dance and several activities that included a karaoke bar, a movie theater, a casino, and raffle prizes.

But Grimm found himself wishing that he and Rhonda could have just gone somewhere and been alone. He had to share Rhonda with a seemingly endless stream of classmates asking for yearbook signatures, photos, email addresses to stay in touch, and more. Again, Grimm felt annoyed that so many people were saying they would miss her, when they didn't seem to have cared a whit about her before.

Even worse, Grimm found himself having to fend off a number of guys who kept asking Rhonda to _dance_. It should have been common knowledge that he and Rhonda were dating, but there seemed to be a large number who were acting like they had no idea.

So when Rhonda took a turn at the karaoke machine to do another of her favorite old songs, she wound up with a number of guys gathering around to watch, and cheer. And again to his surprise, Donnie Stoneport was among them.

Grimm hadn't joined in - his stage shyness kept him on the sidelines. But as Rhonda sang and half-danced behind the karaoke microphone, he found himself admiring her again. Maybe it was the dress, or the hair, but she just looked _better_. She even seemed thinner and more toned, as if the exercise from all their missions and training was having a more pronounced effect.

She was simply beautiful. The other girls at school - like the girls on the cheer squad - they were beautiful too, of course. But their beauty had aspects that were forced and artificial. They needed creams, shampoos, perfumes, make-up, trainers and stylists to _make_ themselves beautiful. Rhonda was beautiful without those things. And all the more so, because it was a wholesome down-to-earth beauty that didn't need to call attention to itself.

He was troubled. _'I've known her for years.'_ he thought. _'She's my best friend, my bon-diggety girlfriend. When did she suddenly become hot property?'_

- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0

In a clearing surrounded by thick forest trees, a Lorwardian shuttle lay concealed. The hatchway was open, and white light spilled from it like a beacon. Two shapes were descending from the hatchway. One thin and skeletal, the other hulking and massive.

BattleSkaar paused to look at their surroundings. No buildings, no civilization in sight - only savage plant life. They would actually be doing this planet a _favor_ by conquering it and bringing their advanced technology and culture. The inhabitants might well be thanking them before long...

'A most welcome sight.' said Maze, stepping forward. He breathed in the air as if he had just emerged from a tomb after ages of interment. The sterile, processed air of the Lorwardian ships was galling compared to the freshness of the surrounding trees. 'But why have you brought me here?'

BattleSkaar glowered at him. 'To fulfill the second aspect of our bargain.' he said. 'General Warhok is satisfied that the marker project is back on schedule. So much so, that he deems the time has come for you to resume your hunt for the one called Drakken.'

Maze looked aside at him. 'You will still need my abilities to conceal the last of the markers...'

'The process is nearly complete.' BattleSkaar broke over him. 'Our forces will place the remaining few markers during the next five of your solar cycles. Once they have been set, the invasion will begin. You have until then to complete your hunt. If you should fail, then you will have no reward.'

Maze bowed his head to conceal his narrowed eyes. 'I understand, my lord.' he said softly.

BattleSkaar threw him a small box. 'Take this.' he said gruffly. 'It is a homing beacon. Once you have found Dr. Drakken, activate it, and we will come for him - and you. You will also require sub-atmospheric transport.' He nodded to the Fight still stationed at the hatchway. The Fight nodded back and began pushing out what looked like a winged, human sized pod. It had the same black and scarlet colors as the larger Lorwardian ships.

'This has been specially made for your conveyance.' said BattleSkaar. 'Coupled with your shadow abilities, it should allow you to travel quickly to any location on your Earth's surface, and to move undetected. To accommodate your... _lack_ of experience, we have made the controls simple. You would do wisely to practice here for a brief time after we have left.'

Maze nodded, but kept his head bowed and continued to hide his sulky expression. 'It shall be as you command.' he said, keeping his voice patient.

'Very good.' said BattleSkaar. 'As of this moment, you are free to hunt alone. Go forth, and _do_ our will. Just remember... we will be back _soon_, whether you have succeeded in your hunt or not. You will either be numbered as one of us, the conquerors - or you will be among the conquered.' He turned and snapped his fingers, and the Fight fell in step behind him. They both disappeared into the shuttle, and the hatch snapped shut behind them. Moments later the engine whined, and the transport vanished, shooting up into the night sky.

Only after they had gone did Maze raise his head. 'Farewell, _masters_.' he growled. He was both embarrassed and offended by how quickly the Lorwardian plans were shaping up. He remembered the weeks of long labor that he and Monkey Fist had undergone to launch their own scheme for world domination. It had taken ceaseless effort, and all the resources they could muster, in addition to their own powers. And here these green giants were poised to take over the planet in mere _hours_.

And after everything he had seen, the time spent helping them, he believed they would do it. They weren't even concerned that he might betray them now. And he had to admit - even if he flew to the nation's capital in this alien machine, telling the truth, and turning in of all his new tools and weapons, he doubted anyone would believe him. With as many mad scientists as existed on Earth, they might well ascribe these fantastic machines to any one of them. Fools that the white men were, they would bicker and quarrel over the 'meaning' of it all for days, and by then it would be too late for them. Irksome though it was, it was best to fulfill his end of the bargain and simply enjoy watching the white man's world come crashing down around them.

And to that end, he mounted the cycle-like pod. It was comfortable enough, and displayed the Lorwardian skill at miniaturization as a full canopy slid up from the nose cone and surrounded him. As promised, the controls were similar to the Lorwardian shuttles he had studied, although pared down and simplified. _'Otaatoyiwa named his flying machine the Eagle,' _he thought, running his hand over the smooth surface of the cockpit. _'I shall name you... Crow.'_

And soon the _Crow_ was also rising up into the darkness. Maze chanted softly, concentrated, and the night shadows spread over his vehicle like a thin blanket of black mist. He disappeared from view, and with an equally dark smile, he began soaring through the night. His orders were to find Dr. Drakken before the invasion began. But his desire was to have revenge on _Katasistsikoowa_ and her friends. But he had a plan now, to achieve one task by doing the other...

Coming Soon:

Chapter 7  
>Mission in Montana<p>

_Author:_

_Even if the chapters still aren't coming much faster, at least the action will be! The clock is ticking down towards the inevitable. And as Jeff Goldblum might say... 'Checkmate.' Now that Team Probable are graduates, they have to venture out into 'the real world'. And it'll be a bigger experience than any of them imagined as they're called out for their biggest job ever..._


	8. Chapter 7: Mission in Montana

All Things Probable IV  
>Graduation<p>

Kim Possible is owned/copyrighted by Disney and its affiliates, etc. etc.

**Chapter 7**  
><strong>Mission in Montana<strong>

The school farewell party lasted long into the night. When it was finally over, Rhonda looked flushed and exhausted, but also dazzled. As happy as she seemed to be, Grimm didn't have the heart to tell her about Leigh Gality's new contract negotiation, or the other things bothering him. At the end of the party, Rhonda seemed to want nothing more than to get home and flop into bed.

Grimm's parents let him sleep in the following morning, but Grimm felt restless. Now that graduation was officially over, he was feeling motivated to step up their game on the mercenary front. He figured, if Leigh Gality wanted to charge them more because they were 'grown up', why shouldn't they do the same with their work? The team had a strong track record of successes, and now that they were older with more experience, the _professional_ thing to do would be to reflect that with more exclusive rates.

He mulled it over through most of the night and into the morning. He planned to have Jade do some price checking, and compare their own rates with groups like Global Justice - who certainly _didn't_ work for free. Grimm thought that, if they raised their rates reasonably in comparison, it might cover the cost of the price hike that Leigh was pushing on them. So he found himself getting up more or less on time, despite the late night, and contacting Jade.

'I know it's probably pointless to ask, but is there any chance Leigh made a mistake?' he said into the chat program on his computer.

Jade's voice came back through his speakers in a snorting laugh. 'Leigh? Make a _mistake_?' she said. 'You know who we're talking about, right?'

Grimm shrugged to show his sullenness, even without being video linked. 'That's a no then?'

He heard Jade sigh on the other end of the line. 'There's a reason why lawyers refer to their stuff as 'iron-clad.' she said. 'I've gone over it stem to stern, and there's no loopholes - not even anything that might vaguely _look_ like a loophole. Though looking at the text, she _could_ have charged three times as much as the final price she settled on. Maybe she still likes us after all.'

Grimm winced. 'Is it feasible to re-jigger our own prices and make up the difference?'

Jade sounded less apologetic when answering. 'That could be promising.' she said. 'We can sure give it a try and see how the client base reacts. As long as we keep delivering results, they can't complain too much.'

'And if they try hiring out to cheaper sources, we can take measures to... _ensure_ we look better by comparison.' Grimm muttered.

'What - sabotage?' Jade said. 'We've never had to do that before. The fly-by-night groups usually screw things up on their own.'

'True, that.' Grimm said with another shrug. 'Still... it's a thought.'

'If we focus on keeping our clients happy, we should be fine.' Jade said. 'Speaking of which, you're supposed to contact Mr. Matter with a status report. Killigan too. He's not the patient sort, _hoot mon_!'

Grimm bit his lip. 'Yeah.' he said. 'But first, there's something going on today that's almost as much a hassle as Graduation was.'

'What's that?'

'The family dinner.'

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It wasn't as much of a drag as Grimm had feared. Though resolving work issues was in the back of his mind, the party was actually kind of diverting. Living in Riddleton under an umbrella of military and high government grade security had benefits. But one of the drawbacks was that visitors were rarely allowed in. As a result, Grimm hadn't seen his extended family for a long time. But as a favor to his dad, who worked in the DoD, special permission had been granted for this occasion.

Under tightly controlled restrictions and guidelines, Several members of Mr. Probable's family were escorted into Riddleton so they could celebrate Grimm's graduation.

Many of them had attended the graduation itself, but it was understood the formal congratulations and celebration would take place at the family dinner the day afterwards, allowing the graduates to have their night to themselves. And so the visiting members of Grimm's family were trooping in to spend the day visiting and to congratulate Grimm.

'Keep smiling, boy.' said his Dad, who was standing next to him as cousins, uncles and aunts walked by shaking their hands in a kind of line procession as they filed in to eat and mingle. 'And remember what I said the other day - this isn't just about you.'

'Yeah, I know.' said Grimm, scratching his neck through a dress shirt collar. 'Just as long as Grandma doesn't do that cheek-pinchy thing...'

And at that very moment, his Grandma pulled him into a tight hug, squealing in delight. 'Oh baby-boo, I'm so _proud_...!' she said in her now slightly creaky voice. She quickly let him go and raised a hand, taking some of the skin of his cheek between her thumb and forefinger, then shaking his flesh back and forth for a second.

Grimm's dad gave him a pointed look and Grimm submitted with a forced smile. 'Thanks Grandma,' he said. 'But _baby-boo_? You haven't called me that since Kindergarten.'

'Oh that may be.' said Grandma Probable fondly. 'But to me you'll always be my little baby-boo!'

'Now dear,' said Grandpa Probable, nudging her just slightly. 'We came to celebrate him being grown up, not pretend he's still a toddler.'

'I know, but it just came and went so _fast_.' said Grandma. 'Honestly, when we were raising Quinn and Jim it seemed to take forever, with all the hijinx they got into...'

'I'd love to hear _all_ about that before you go...' said Grimm with a smirk.

At this, his Dad cleared his throat noisily and began escorting his parents to the living room. 'Mary was hoping to talk to you about the decorations...' he said quickly.

Grimm smiled as they disappeared into the crowd, then focused on greeting new arrivals, varying up the words in the usual perfunctory phrases. The adult aunts and uncles were formal and polite. But the cousins were energetic and rambunctious. They seemed more interested in the food, and in seeing if the house had a video gaming system. 'Reconnecting' with an infrequently-seen older cousin seemed lower on their list of priorities.

And eventually everyone who was coming had arrived, and Grimm was allowed to migrate from 'greeting' duties to 'mingling' duties. This included thanking everyone who came, asking if they were enjoying themselves, and accepting a steady stream of congratulations on his graduation. More difficult were the periodic queries about his 'plans for the future'. Nearly everyone was offering to put him in touch with so-and-so from such-and-such university. But somehow the thought of college was something he didn't feel energized about - at least not yet. It caused his mind to wander back to his pending mercenary jobs, and the updates he'd be delivering later to his clients. Not to mention his nagging concerns over re-negotiating with Leigh, and the lack of progress with the Poxorza case and the grass vandals.

He eventually ducked into the kitchen to check on his mom, and found her looking slightly harassed as she kept checking fresh dishes to replenish depleted ones on the dining room table. He started moving in to try and help out, but his mother slapped his hands away.

'I've got this dear - go out and enjoy the party.' she said.

Grimm shook his head. 'I'm _tired_ of asking everyone how they're doing when they're all doing fine.' he said with a weary smile. 'I don't mind helping...'

At that moment, Rhonda came in through the back door into the kitchen, looking gorgeous in her formal dress. 'Hey Grimm!' she chirped, then swooped in and took two platters from his mother, starting in towards the dining room.

Grimm was nonplussed, looking back and forth between Rhonda and his mom. A knowing smile flashed across his mother's face and she nodded towards the door Rhonda had just gone through.

'What are you _doing_ here?' he said, following her into the dining room. She was already laying the platters out on the table and waving hello to a number of family members, who perked up at the sight of her. 'I thought you were at your own family dinner.'

'Oh, it's winding down already.' said Rhonda, picking up some empty plates from the table, and ignoring the people telling her not to trouble. 'I don't have as much extended family as you do, it went pretty fast. Besides, I just had to get away from cousin _Shaunda_.'

Grimm blinked, leaning in to help her clear away other plates. 'I thought you and her were getting along better after the thing with the...'

'Mmm _mmmm_.' said Rhonda pointedly, shaking her head. 'Besides, this way I can be closer to the training yard for my 'commune with nature' thing later in the evening.'

Between the crowds at Graduation, and the hurly-burly of the party afterwards, Grimm was feeling more like he just wanted some time _alone_ with Rhonda, without having to worry about work or training, or a crowd of well-wishers. She looked beautiful, and more than anything else, he just wanted to soak it in for a while. 'Uh... look,' he said, actually feeling bashful, 'I was thinking we could skip the training today and just _hang out_ once the party's over. I mean, I know you don't enjoy outdoor stuff...'

'Oh, it's OK.' said Rhonda, off-handedly. 'I don't mind so much anymore.' And she disappeared through the door back into the kitchen.

Grimm hesitated a bit, looking after her, then noticed one of his cousins standing off to the side, looking at him as if he had been watching them. He was an older cousin, and would be a Senior himself next year. '_What_?' Grimm snapped.

'Dibs if you break up.' he said, flatly.

Grimm felt his eyes narrowing. 'Try the escargot, you'll _love_ it.' he growled, and followed Rhonda back into the kitchen. When he went back in, he was surprised again. Jade had arrived, and she and Rhonda were sharing one of their bouncing up and down hugs.

'You're a _graduate_! _Eeeeeeeeeeee!'_ Jade shrieked.

'You're _not_! _Eeeeeeeeeeee!'_ Rhonda shouted.

'But I'm still _smarter_ than you! _Eeeeeeeeee!'_

'Knock it off, you two - you'll attract bats with all that squealing.' said Mrs. Probable, though she was not frowning.

'Yeesh, why does everyone _else_ want to come to our party?' Grimm said. 'You're supposed to be crunching numbers for our pay hikes...'

'Yeah and _you're_ supposed to be talking to Mr. Matter and Killigan.' Jade fired back. 'I'll go back in a while, I just needed some air.'

'There's _air_ in your computer room!' Grimm said.

'I mean _air_ that isn't blowing through my dad's vocal cords.' Jade winced. 'I mean, I'm _way _younger than you, but he's still going on like he thinks I should have graduated _before_ you! Try and wrap your mind around that. Hold on a sec...'

An annoying tune was playing from somewhere, and Jade fished a smart phone from her back pocket. She fiddled with it for a second or two before the music stopped and she stared at the display screen.

'Speak of the devil.' she said, then muttered while texting. 'Yes, I'll be home for dinner at the usual time...'

Everyone was staring at her, and Rhonda's eyebrows were sky-high. 'Your text tone is the _'Ring-a-Ding-Ding-Ding-Dong_' jingle?' she said.

Jade shrugged. 'Yeah sure, it's catchy.' she said, then she clicked her phone and started it playing again. She closed her eyes and started doing a silly dance, her head bobbing up and down while she sang along to the tune.

'Aunt Mary, they sent me in for more rolls...' came a voice from behind, and a young boy with faded auburn hair came into the kitchen, but stopped short at the sight of Jade, who was now shuffling back and forth.

_'Ringy-ding-ding-ding-dong! Dinga-ding-ding-ding-dong!'_

Grimm cleared his throat loudly, but Jade didn't seem to notice.

_'Ding ding-da-ding-de-dong!'_

'_Jade_!' Grimm barked, and she opened her eyes.

She saw the boy, who was staring at her with a flat, unreadable expression. At once, Jade's eyes flew wide and her mouth hung open in mid-verse.

'Ding... ding... _ding..._' she trailed off to a whisper.

Grimm sighed. 'Jade, this is my cousin Josh Probable. Josh, this is Jade Omo-sa.'

Josh, like Rhonda, had an eyebrow raised. 'Charmed.' he said, and he looked away from Jade as if not sure what to make of her.

'_Ding_...' Jade breathed, looking dumbstruck.

Mrs. Probable quickly pushed a tray full of rolls into Josh's hands. 'There you go, dear.' she said. 'Don't keep the guests waiting.' Josh nodded and disappeared through the kitchen door.

'Smooth, Jade.' Grimm said. But Jade didn't seem to hear him. She was staring at the door where Josh had left, looking as if her brain had been sucked out through her ear. It was several seconds before she seemed to snap out of it.

'Oh... Em... _Gee_!' she gasped. '_That's_ your cousin Josh?'

'Uh... _yeah,_ I just said he was...'

'He's so _cute_!' Jade said. And she looked back at Grimm, giving him a once-over in a way that made him feel suddenly uncomfortable. 'Yeesh, talk about a mix-up in the gene pool...' she said, looking back at the door.

'Hey!' Grimm said, but Rhonda was leaning in now, and looking extremely wry.

'Jaaaaaade...!' she said in a drawn-out sing-song voice. 'You _like_ himmmmmmmm!'

At once Jade's face flamed bright red and she hid her eyes behind a hand, though a broad smile was visible below her palm. 'Shut _up_...!' she said, and her posture was now uncharacteristically _girlish_.

'I think he's _sin-gllllllle...'_ Rhonda said, pouring it on and elbowing Jade in the ribs.

A horror-struck expression sprang onto Jade's face. 'He saw me doing the _ding ding_ dance...!' she groaned, whirling around. She looked at her reflection in one of the tray covers on the counter. 'And... aw _crud_! I look like somebody dragged me here on the bumper of their _car_!'

'You _always_ look like that...' Grimm said, and he was feeling a bit miffed that neither of them seemed to be paying attention to him. And indeed, Jade was making an abrupt beeline for the back door.

'I'll be back in a few - I just gotta... change.' she said, and with a slam, she was gone. Just as quickly the door popped open and her head leaned in, looking fiercely at Rhonda. 'Tell me if he leaves!' she snapped, and disappeared again.

Mrs. Probable clucked her tongue. 'Mmm. How interesting.' she said, and returned to tending various dishes for the table.

Grimm looked at his mother. 'That's _it_?' he said. 'You spent half my life chasing girls away from _me_ - now when someone makes eyes at Josh, you just think it's _interesting_?'

Mrs. Probable didn't look up from the pot she was stirring, but she was smiling. 'This is different - it affects someone _else_.' she said.

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

After another hour or so, the party was entering the mellow stage, when most of the guests had eaten their fill and were starting to relax, and Grimm was free from doing any active hosting or ushering. Mr. Probable was also able to unwind a bit once all the guests were seen to.

Grimm wandered into the living room and saw his uncle come up behind his father and give him a mischievous tap on the wrong shoulder. Without looking, Mr. Probable laughed.

'Jim!' he said, turning and clapping him jovially on the shoulder. 'How are things at the CIA?'

Jim Probable laughed. 'Even if I knew, I couldn't tell you! Nice to see you, Quinn. Between work and raising our kids, we hardly get to see each other these days.'

'Work keeping you busy?' said Dad.

Uncle Jim sighed, shaking his head as he took a sip of punch. 'You could say that. I can't go into huge details, but among other things, we've been ordered to investigate those symbols being burned into fields across the country. So far, it's got us baffled...'

At this, Grimm was all ears, and he leaned forward, listening closely.

'...and since people overseas are also being affected, some bigwigs in the office are wondering if this is a prelude for some kind of global operation. So far, that WEE group is top among the list of suspects, but it could also be one of those wierdo super-villains working on a bigger scheme. After that thing with Drakken's Diablo robots, then that worldwide statue attack, they don't want us to take any chances...'

Unable to resist, Grimm cleared his throat and stepped up to them. 'Uncle Jim.' he said cordially.

'Grimm!' said Jim Probable, putting out his hand. Grimm shook it formally. 'Last time I saw you, you were just going into High School - and look at you now!'

'Thanks.' he said. 'My apologies, but I couldn't help overhearing. As it happens, our website has been hired by a... _client _to make the same investigation.' and he tried to sound off-handed. 'Turns out some of them are just as curious about this as you are. Maybe we could both get a little further along if we pooled our resources.'

Uncle Jim paused, a gleam in his eye. 'I've heard rumors about your work through contacts at the DoD.' he said. 'Your clientele are certainly a _varied_ bunch.'

'I admit when we first started out, we started small.' said Grimm, fighting back his usual smirk. 'But I just heard a really smart person say, _look at you now_.'

Jim took on a poker-face, but didn't seem displeased. 'I've heard about your predilection for wordplay as well.' he said. 'So you want us to partner up on this? Some of the people I work with will raise eyebrows. They'll want to know if you can be trusted, given the sorts who usually hire you.'

'I can vouch for him.' said Dad. 'In fact, he was a key player in stopping that Monkey Fist statue attack a couple months ago. He knows when to keep his mouth shut.'

Uncle Jim looked impressed, and Grimm could no longer hold back his smirk. 'It's true.' he said, swirling his own punch cup. 'I can't go into the _details_ of course...'

Uncle Jim laughed. 'A chip off the old block, I see.' he said. Then after a pause, he nodded. 'All right. I'll make some calls and see if I can't take your team on as independent contractors for this case. It wouldn't be the first time we used mercenaries _- if _you think you're ready to run with the big dogs.'

'_Born_ ready, sir.' said Grimm firmly. And already in his mind he was having Jade add price hikes and endorsements to their web page - _Helped Solve Cases Even the CIA Couldn't Handle_.

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

So it was in a fairly chipper mood that Grimm tracked down Rhonda again and found her with several family members, including his grandparents, who seemed to be hanging on her every word. '...and then the manager told me his latin name,' she was saying. 'He said _it's mustela frenata_ - I said, _It doesn't mattah_!' Rueful was slithering around her shoulders, chittering softly. Everyone laughed.

'Oh dearie, you are _quite_ the charmer.' said Grandma. 'No wonder Grimm likes you so much...'

'Yeah, I do.' said Grimm, darting in from the side and putting an arm around her. 'Mind if I steal her for a few minutes?' and without waiting he pulled her gently off to the side.

'What's up?' she said. 'I was having fun there...'

'We need to hunt down Jade.' he said. 'Something big just came up.'

They found Jade in the entertainment room with several of his cousins, though she only seemed to have eyes for Josh. At first, Grimm almost didn't recognize her. She was wearing an off-white _dress_, and her hair was out of her usual pigtails, now combed down and hanging to her shoulders. Josh was looking bored, and his other cousins were looking annoyed as Jade appeared to be trying to horn in on their conversations.

'Jade?' he asked cautiously.

Jade turned to him with a fluttering laugh. 'Oh hi Grimm!' she said in a chirpy voice. 'Josh was just telling the most _delightful_ story...'

'No I wasn't.' said Josh, his voice flat.

Jade's cheeks flushed and she let out a forced, toneless laugh while her eyes darted uncomfortably back and forth.

'Well, come with us Jade,' said Grimm. 'Someone wants you in the next room.'

'Who?' said Jade, looking around.

'Everybody in _this_ one.' Grimm muttered, and started pulling her towards the door.

Grimm steered Jade and Rhonda towards the study, hearing their muttered conversation.

'So how's it going?' Rhonda whispered.

'Eh... _terrible_.' Jade groaned. 'It felt like I was giving a church sermon in a comedy club or something. And Josh - I've been trying to break the ice with him for twenty minutes, but nothing! What's the dealy-o?'

'Josh is... sophisticated.' said Grimm with a low voice. 'I haven't seen him much, but every time I have, he's all study and no play. I get the impression he doesn't think much of me, or my mercenary work. He's pretty smart, and he _acts_ like it.'

'Well _yeesh_ then, why isn't he playing along?' Jade hissed, as they passed through a crowd of chatting party-goers. 'I'm smart! All I ever do is study, and look at me, I'm all dolled up and everything, I'm slopping over with sophistication!' she stumbled, and Grimm saw she was wearing heeled shoes.

'Well, never mind that now.' he said, and he finally reached the study, herding them in. Once the door was closed behind them, he told them about the conversation with his uncle.

'...so we'll be working with Uncle Jim's friends in the CIA!' he said excitedly. 'And it's on a gig where we've already made some connections. If we play our cards right, and help them crack this, we can not only fulfill our deal with Killigan, but we can grease the skids with some real government heavyweights.'

Jade breathed. 'The CIA?' she said. 'Woah - that _is_ big.'

'So... what do we _do_ for them?' said Rhonda, looking nervous.

'Hopefully, we just do what we usually do. We solve the case and wind up killing two birds with one stone.'

'We won't have to work with anyone else?' said Rhonda doubtfully.

Grimm shrugged. 'We might.' he said. 'But they probably won't have us do anything more than report to someone when we make any progress. Intelligence agencies who contract jobs out to mercenary teams usually let the mercs do what they want. They don't even want to know _how_ they do it as long as the job gets done. Helps them maintain _plausible denial_ and all that.'

'Sounds ok.' said Rhonda.

'Uncle Jim said he'll get back to me once it's done deal.' said Grimm. 'You guys in?' and he put his hand out, palm down.

Jade and Rhonda looked at each other, then put their own hands on top of his.

Grimm smiled. 'Nice!' he said. 'Team Probable is about to level up!'

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

The party eventually ended, and after helping to see off all the guests, Grimm retreated to his room to make his contacts.

'You say you _almost_ captured her?' said Mr. Matter, speaking over the audio line. 'That means my super-heroine nemesis is still on the loose!'

'To be fair, she's never directly interfered with you.' said Grimm. 'So she's not your "nemesis" yet. And I think after our encounter, she won't have time to uncover your... highly intricate and ultra-secret network.'

He heard Mr. Matter harrumph over the speakers. 'So you say.' he said. 'How can you be _sure_?'

'I've put her on alert that the police are after her, for starters.' said Grimm. 'Unlicensed vigilante. You know as well as anyone that Riddleton keeps a tight wrap on things because of the government security angle. And there's also the fact that she'll be more concerned about another threat - _me_. I think I can promise she'll be too busy to bother your operations for now.'

'Hmmm.' hmmmed Mr. Matter. 'Very well - but I withhold full payment for the job until the day she's captured, or is otherwise guaranteed out of commission.'

'Which won't be much longer.' Grimm said. 'We'll keep in touch.'

And then after that, it was Killigan's turn for his status update, which Grimm was more looking forward to, since he had measureable progress to brag about.

'Working with another team_?_ Are ya _daft_, boy-o?' Killigan shouted over the one-way video link. 'I dinna want anyone else knowing about this!'

'You've got nothing to worry about.' said Grimm, picking his words carefully. He wanted to let Killigan know they were going to be working with specialists, but without making him paranoid. 'We'll be the ones interacting with them. You're not the only one who got hit, so you're not the only one who wants to know who's behind it. Which means the whole team will be on _your_ side, and there's no need for them to even know you're involved - unless you want us to tell them.'

Killigan spluttered. 'Ah don't _think_ so, laddie!'

'Then everything's cool.' said Grimm. 'All it means to you is that we'll be finding the culprits that much sooner. And once they're in our crosshairs, we'll do everything we can to make sure _you_ get the first crack at them.'

A sneering smile splayed across Killigan's lips. 'I'll keep me nine-iron polished then.' he said. 'Just let me know when I'll need it ready to hand, boy-o.'

And Grimm was on tenterhooks the rest of the evening in the Training Yard with Rhonda, and later through the night. Uncle Jim had promised to let him know the next day if the deal was on or off.

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

Far away, in the inky darkness of the night, Chief Sakituya stood outside the entrance of Kamp Kwitcherbeliakin. Gentle Paw sat on his haunches beside him, shivering, even though the night was warm. The Blackfoot Chief looked quietly back and forth at the surrounding shadows, the sound of the pine trees sighing softly around them. Finally, he shook his head and spoke out loud, though there seemed to be no one else around. 'Come out, Maze.' he said. 'I have felt your presence around the camp for some time now. There is something you wish to say?'

And as if the shadows were a cloak he had just shrugged off, Maze appeared several feet away. Sakituya blinked. In addition to his normal garb, Maze seemed adorned with several form-fitting pieces of machinery, like metallic extensions to his body. 'I am glad to see you again, Sakituya.' he said in a deep, cold voice. 'How are you?'

Sakituya did not smile. 'Confused.' he answered, in a voice that was almost as cold. 'Because I know you did not leave signs that would draw me here to meet you, merely so that you could ask small questions about my well-being.'

Maze chuckled mirthlessly. 'No.' he said. 'I suppose that neither of us have time to waste anymore. I know you have called the tribal elders. So I trust you have received my _other_ messages?'

Sakituya only nodded.

'Things are drawing rapidly to the point now.' said Maze. 'I told you the day would come that our people would be avenged. That day is nearly here. I suggest you inform the elders to prepare themselves for rapid, sudden changes that will restore us to our rightful lands and place.'

'Maze.' said Sakituya, shaking his head. 'You disgrace yourself with this petty quest for revenge.'

'Perhaps.' Maze growled. 'But soon - I will be known as the hero who saved the Blackfoot.'

'This is _not_ the answer.'

Maze cut across him. 'Did you truly think I would slink away in defeat after you and that _girl_ thwarted me? That I would simply give up my plans? I have found _new_ allies - new, and powerful! With their aid, the whiteskins will _pay_!'

'You were equally sure of your victory two months ago.' said Sakituya. 'Yet you were still beaten.'

'Things have changed, old friend.' Maze answered.

Sakituya stared at him and nodded. 'Yes.' he said. 'And you yourself have changed a great deal, _Sskipoyiwa_. In both your appearance, and your attitude towards this Earth.'

'I have learned that there are greater powers than anyone on this world could imagine - even the Great Bear.'

The two stared at each other in silence for some time before Sakituya spoke again. 'We will see.' he said.

'We will.' said Maze. There was another prolonged silence, and Sakituya turned to leave. As he walked away, Maze called out to him. 'Give your pale-faced priestess my regards when she arrives.' he sneered. 'I look forward to seeing how she responds to what will soon come.'

Sakituya turned back to face Maze again, his mouth opened to speak, but the shadow shaman had disappeared into the darkness.

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

It was next morning when Uncle Jim returned to their house. He exchanged the normal pleasantries with his brother, and over brunch, he discussed their plans to return home that afternoon.

'Sure you can't stay a little longer?' said Mr. Probable.

'Afraid not.' he said with a regretful shake of his head. 'Besides work, Josh is pretty anxious to get back to his studies.'

Grimm knew he was tipping his hand, but he couldn't stop himself from tensing up when Uncle Jim mentioned _work_. This did not escape Jim's notice, his eyes flicking to his nephew. 'And I suppose,' he said off-handedly, 'You'd like to know what the word is on your offer of service?'

Grimm winced that he had betrayed his interest so quickly. Still, he tried to play it cool again, not meeting his uncle's eye, but stirring the food on his plate with a fork. 'Maybe.' he said in a would-be casual voice.

Jim raised his head and took in a breath, which he held for a split second before smiling and inclining neck in a curt nod. 'They say we can go for it.' he said.

And Grimm now gripped his fork tightly, fighting back a loud _whoop_. Lynn and Mim sighed and shared a knowing look.

'Great, a big job.' said Lynn.

'Like he wasn't full of himself _before_.' said Mim.

Jim was looking at Grimm more seriously now, but still smiling. 'When I brought it up with my colleagues,' he said, 'I was expecting more hesitation. But they think someone who has an in the world's super-villains might actually be useful for gathering intel on this case.'

'If they play it straight with us, we'll deliver the goods.' said Grimm. 'When do we start?'

'Think you can get your team ready to move in time for our flight out?' said Jim.

'May I be excused?' said Grimm, looking over at his father and mother. And after sharing a glance, they both nodded. Grimm darted away from the table a moment later and vanished downstairs.

'Quite the go-getter.' said Jim, after Grimm had left. 'We'll soon see if he's got what it takes for the big leagues - _and_ if he's ready to be part of a bigger team.'

Mr. Probable nodded. 'I think I'll come along, if you don't mind.' he said. 'I promise not to interfere directly - the CIA and the DoD don't want to step on each other's toes. But you can understand why I'd like to keep an eye on this. It could mean Grimm is ready to step away from his website to something more... _career_ oriented.'

Jim tapped his fingers on the table, looking at his brother doubtfully. 'He'll be under _my_ supervision.' he said. 'The last thing the CIA wants is a helicopter parent buzzing around our operatives. _No_ interference, you say?'

Mr. Probable chuckled. 'Young men with ambition don't need interference - they need _guidance_.'

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

'Man, this was fast.' said Rhonda. She, Grimm, and Jade were seated in a chartered jet out of Riddleton. Uncle Jim and his family, as well as his father, were also on board. 'Don't we even get a Summer break? Ya know - to play volleyball on a beach for no real reason?'

'There'll be time for that later.' said Grimm, with a gleam in his eye. He was looking out of the window into the shining sky and the white clouds as the jet cruised. 'I've got all our equipment in the hold - the bike, and our gear. Jade, do you have everything you need?'

'Yeah.' she said. 'And even _Dad_ gave his blessing on this. I guess he thinks working with the CIA is far enough removed from goofing off that he's OK with it as a summer activity.'

'Why couldn't you just hack from your room like usual?' Rhonda shrugged, stroking Rueful's head.

Jade's eyes shot across the aisle to where Josh was sitting next to his father. 'I can... make our connections more... secure... if I'm... closer to... some action... I mean, _the_ action.' she said, flushing.

Grimm looked back and forth between Jade and Josh. Jade was still wearing a dress and heels, and had her hair down. She had also washed out whatever color she used to streak the hair near her temples. 'Jade, I need you to _focus_.' he said, lowering his voice. 'We all have to be on our A-game for this one. The CIA isn't bringing us out to watch you moon over my cousin. Dresses, heels and prat-falls? That stuff went out with _Lizzy McGuire_!'

'I... only tripped _once_!' Jade hissed.

'Head... in... the _game_.' Grimm whispered intensely. 'You can embarrass yourself in front of Josh when the job's done.'

Jade didn't answer. She turned her head away, looking hurt, but nodding.

They arrived at an airport and were met by a small motorcade of black RVs, along with one that was hitched up to a trailer. Their equipment was loaded straight from the plane and onto the trailer by dark-suited men, wearing sunglasses, earpieces, and identical expressionless scowls.

They efficiently and quietly lifted boxes and loaded the vehicles, even lifting the box Jade had been carrying out of her startled hands. 'Which one of you is Agent Smith?' she asked, with her hands on her hips. Then she facepalmed as every one of them raised a hand.

'We're not used to being catered to.' said Grimm to Uncle Jim as they got into the lead SUV. 'And this is just to get to your house?'

Jim shrugged. 'The CIA likes to make sure everything is in its' place.' he said. 'My house will have a base of operations set up, but you'll probably be traveling between there and a field station where our contacts are already in place.'

'How soon can we get out in the field?' said Grimm eagerly. 'I'd like to swap intel with your operatives as fast as we can - I'm betting we can spot more patterns once that happens, and...'

'Not long.' Jim smiled, buckling in. 'We'll need to put all the _non-essential_ gear at my place first...' and he glanced towards his brother who was in the side passenger seat.

Jade had somehow squirmed in before Rhonda, darting to the seat right next to Josh, though she looked too nervous and fidgety to actually say anything. Josh glanced sidelong at her, but quickly turned his attention out the window, staring off at nothing as they started to drive.

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

'Woah - you live on a _ranch_?' said Rhonda, stepping out of the SUV after a drive of about forty-five minutes. They were inside a gated compound that had all the earmarks of a cattle ranch, though they only saw a few head of actual livestock.

'Yes indeed.' said Uncle Jim, getting out and looking around proudly. 'Welcome to El Rancho Proba-billo!'

'I still think you need to come up with a better name.' said Mr. Probable with a wince.

Uncle Jim shrugged. 'When you get your own ranch, you can name it whatever you want.' he said.

'Oh _wow_, you've got _horses_...!' said Jade, looking excitedly out into a surrounding pasture. She was jumping up and down on her toes, but then glanced aside at Josh and stopped, clearing her throat. 'I mean... how proper.' she said. Josh did not seem to hear her.

Grimm and Rhonda were heading back to the trailer, but Uncle Jim stopped them. 'Let the agents set up everything in your HQ.' he said. 'I'll brief you over lunch, and by the time we're done you should be set up and ready to go.' Grimm hesitated, looking back at their gear, and at the anonymous, suited agents forming a bucket line to carry them off. This also was not unnoticed by Uncle Jim. 'Worried they might fiddle with your stuff?' he said with a faint smile.

Grimm shrugged and nodded. 'Usually it's only me, Rhonda and Jade that we ever let touch our gear. In our line of work, we've dealt with a lot of people who like to... _tamper_.'

'Well I'd be surprised if you _didn't_ have that in mind.' said Uncle Jim. 'But in this case, you needn't worry. You can check everything over before you go... if you think it's necessary.'

Grimm allowed himself a return smile, then followed his uncle towards the main house. Rueful was sniffing and darting his head in every direction as they walked, fascinated by the new sights and smells. 'Think it's OK if I let him explore?' she muttered to Grimm. 'He uses claws when he gets too worked up...'

Grimm looked back and forth quickly, then nodded. 'Yeah,' he said in a low voice. 'Tell him to _out-scay_, if you know what I mean...'

'Otcha-gay!' said Rhonda with a wink and a nod. And she chirruped her lips, holding out her arm before they reached the house. At once, Rueful scurried down her arm, slithered down the stairway rails leading up to the front porch, and vanished into the bushes in front of the house.

The interior was spacious, and done up in a manner that one would expect from a dude ranch. There were hardwood floors with decorative rugs, and vaulted ceilings with dark wooden beams. There were rough wooden, or rope frames on the pictures, furniture with twisted log frames, all polished and lacquered. The paintings were almost all of wide, outdoor scenes and galloping horses.

'You've done a lot of work.' said Mr. Probable, looking around. 'The place wasn't half this nice the last time I came out.'

'Ah, not _me_.' said Uncle Jim. 'The credit for that all goes to the missus. She understood that part of working for the CIA meant putting up a convincing front for the house, and darned if she hasn't gone whole hog. It actually works out pretty well. She does a bang-up job of running the place while I bring home the bacon. Not that we need bacon, I suppose. She runs the place so much like a dude ranch, we probably _could_ charge visitors and be pretty well off.'

'So Gina handles all the animals?' said Mr. Probable. 'Sounds like a bit much for one woman.'

'Not for _her_.' said Jim with a chuckle. 'I think she likes the challenge as much as anything. So far we've got about twenty animals all told - and she hasn't needed any help yet.'

They had lunch around an island in the kitchen, a simple meal of sandwiches, chips and drinks. Jade was eating in an artificially _dainty_ manner, individually nibbling each chip and extending her pinkys, and her eyes constantly darting to Josh as if somehow hoping for his approval.

'...One of the vandalized fields is within easy flight distance of the field station where you'll be working.' said Uncle Jim between bites. 'You should be able to use your bike to visit the site without any trouble, and make any additional scans you need to compare it with your pre-existing data.'

'Sounds good.' said Grimm. 'So where's Aunt Gina?'

'She probably ate already.' Uncle Jim answered through a mouthful of sandwich. 'She tends to the horses about now. We can swing by the stables on the way out so you can say hi to her.'

When they were done eating, Josh quickly asked to be excused. 'I have homework to do.' he said, sounding eager for a reason to duck out.

Uncle Jim nodded. 'You know you _can_ take a break now that school is out.' he said. 'Relax, live a little...'

'This _is_ my way to relax.' he said, and disappeared down one of the halls leading out of the kitchen. Jade sat up in her stool, craning her neck to look after him, and Rhonda looked extremely smug.

'Well let's show you your HQ and get you up to speed.' said Uncle Jim, wiping his hands on a napkin and getting up. 'Then I'll escort you to the field location.'

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

A bit removed from the main house, there were other buildings that appeared to be cabins. They were shown to one that had two rooms and a bathroom. A computer system had been set up in the second room, which drew Jade's attention right away. She darted to it and sat down, cracking her knuckles. 'This for _me_ to use?' she said with a sidelong glance at Uncle Jim.

Jim nodded. 'It should have everything you need. And if it doesn't, make a list and we'll get it for you.'

'Spankin'!' Jade said, settling into the chair and looking totally in her element. She started typing with one hand and using her other to use the mouse, adjust webcams, and tilt monitors for the best viewing angles.

The other room had two cots, and some of their other gear in boxes. 'You'll probably be sleeping at the field station.' said Uncle Jim, 'But if you need another place to stay, this has everything you'll need.'

Jade remained at the computer station while Grimm and Rhonda followed Uncle Jim back outside. There were two SUV's parked next to the cabin, and one of them had the trailer hitched to it with their bike strapped in. 'We can get to the field station just fine on the bike.' said Grimm. 'No need to _drive_ it out there, you can just give us the coordinates.'

Jim shrugged. 'I'd prefer to have you dropped off for the initial contact, so I can introduce you to the rest of the team.' he said. 'We can leave right after you see your Aunt.'

They went to the stables, a larger building behind the main house which adjoined the surrounding fenced pastures. Inside, the stables were compartmentalized with neat, wooden booths. A few had horses peering over the dividers, looking at them with curious expressions. There was a larger area that had several bales of hay, as well as tack, ropes and other gear. Above, there was a mezzanine-like set of rails that formed a hayloft. As they entered, Rueful darted in and scurried up Rhonda's leg back onto her shoulder. He sniffed, and Rhonda nodded.

'Everything's ear-clay.' she said to Grimm in a low voice.

'Ood-gay.' he smiled and nodded. 'Once we catch up with Aunt Gina, we're gone.'

'Honey?' Uncle Jim called out. 'Grimm's here!'

From the back of the stables stepped a woman wearing denim shorts and a tied-off shirt. She looked muscular, but still very feminine, even though she had a small bale of hay slung one-armed over her shoulder. She shrugged it aside and let it drop, tilting a worn cowboy hat up and smiling at them.

'Nephew!' she said. 'It's been a while!'

Rhonda blinked, then reeled back in alarm. 'Ms. _Darken_?' she shrieked. And even Grimm blinked in surprise.

Uncle Jim gestured back and forth between them. 'Rhonda, this is my wife - Gina Darken Probable.'

Aunt Gina twitched back her hat, showing a head of dirty blonde hair that was close cropped to her shapely face. She took on a knowing expression. 'I take it you've met my twin sister?' she said.

'S..._sister_?' Rhonda squeaked in a low whisper. 'Ms. Darken has a _sister_?'

'And _parents_ too.' said Aunt Gina. 'My sister is Tina. We're twins yes, but Tina was always a city girl. Me, I fell in love with the country.'

Rhonda rounded on Grimm. 'Why didn't you ever _tell_ me that Ms. Darken's sister was your _aunt_?'

Grimm spluttered. 'You know we don't leave Riddleton all that much - I never knew her as _Aunt Ms.-Darken's-Sister_. To me she was just _Aunt Gina_!'

'She looks just _like_ her, how could you _not notice_?'

'_Don't leave Riddleton much_ - what did I just _say_? It's been years since I was out here.'

'Too many years there, nephew.' said Aunt Gina, and she pulled Grimm into a hug. 'Look at _you_!' she said after letting him go. 'All grown up, and with a girlfriend to boot!' she shot an appraising look at Rhonda, then back to her husband. 'What _is_ it with you Probable men, and blondes?'

Uncle Jim flushed and cleared his throat. 'Come on, Mary's got _auburn_ hair...'

'Then Quinn's the only Probable I know who hasn't got a blonde on his arm.' said Aunt Gina. 'Go figure. Sorry I couldn't make it out for your graduation nephew, but two horses foaled. You guys here to help with them?'

'Sorry.' said Grimm. 'We're heading out on a mission. We might be back every so often, but...'

Aunt Gina shook her head. 'All business. You're a Probable, all right.' She looked at Rhonda again. 'Bear that in mind, missy. They need a woman with _sense_ to keep them in line.'

'And muscle.' said Rhonda, still gaping at Aunt Gina's arms and legs. 'Yeesh, if looking after horses is the ticket to staying in shape, I'll need to buy a couple...'

'Flatterer.' said Aunt Gina, but with a faint smile. 'But I have to work hard just to keep level with Tina. She actually competes in a bodybuilding circuit.'

Both Grimm and Rhonda's mouths fell open. 'Ms. Darken moonlights as a _bodybuilder_?' And she looked to Grimm with a wry smile. 'We're gonna have to make a trip back to the High School to mention that to her...'

Grimm winced. 'I'm not sure how deep we want to dig into this.' he said. 'Do we really want to stumble across pictures of Ms. Darken in a _swimsuit_?'

Aunt Gina chuckled. 'Surprised she doesn't have a bunch wallpapering her office.' she said. 'She never misses a chance to let _me_ know she's in better shape. But then, she hasn't given birth yet.'

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

Rhonda still felt a bit mind-blown as they said goodbye to Aunt Gina and were leaving the stables. 'This is just _weird_.' she said. 'You're _related _to Ms. Darken? Jade's gonna freak out.'

'It's... not like we're _blood_ relatives.' said Grimm hesitantly. 'Still... this might explain why she's been such a pain to you and me all through High School. Maybe she thinks of us as family and she's rougher because of it.'

'Nuh-_uh_!' Rhonda barked. 'I'm not a Probable yet!' And she faltered and blushed, looking away. 'You... you know what I mean.' she mumbled.

Grimm cleared his throat, looking up and away from her as they made their way to the SUVs.

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

They collected their gear and piled into the first SUV with Uncle Jim. Two of the robot-like agents took the other one and they left the ranch, leaving Jade behind on the computer systems, but hooked into their communicators. The drive out took over two hours, during which the terrain shifted back and forth between woods and grassland prairie, with mountains poking up in the distance amid a hazy blue wall at the horizon. During the drive, Grimm asked further questions about the mission while Rhonda scratched Rueful's ears and looked out the window.

'Like I said, we don't know all that much - that's the problem.' said Uncle Jim. 'The higher-ups don't like it, and they're looking to us for answers. I hope you can suss things out here as fast as you seemed able to on your other missions. You say that merc Killigan is mixed up in it?'

'He's not part of it, he's one of the victims.' said Grimm. 'You know from our reports that Killigan is obsessed with golf, and the vandals hit one of his courses. He wants them tracked down as bad as you do.'

'And you're _sure_ it wasn't Drakken with one of his death rays?'

'Pretty sure.' said Grimm. 'Drakken's got... problems of his own to deal with right now. So far as we know, he hasn't got any operations in progress.'

'How about the other wack-os on our list?'

'We already ruled out Frugal Lucre, there's no way he has the resources.' said Grimm. 'The opposite's true for Camille Leon. She's so rich she doesn't care about anything but buying new dresses. Monkey Fist is out of commission, as you already know. The Seniors are out too - Junior is hung up on his new girlfriend. And Senor Senior Sr... well, all he's been talking about recently is how he's looking forward to some grandchildren.'

Uncle Jim let out a low laugh. 'I wish some of the _others_ were that easy to distract. How about Dementor, Motor Ed, or that WEE group?'

Grimm nodded. 'They're on our to-do list to contact.' he said. 'We have to be careful about how we make the inquiries, so they don't get suspicious. One whiff of the CIA being involved, and they'll all head for the tall timber.'

'Speaking of tall timber, we'll be there soon.' said Uncle Jim. And indeed, they saw they were entering into a stretch of road with more trees that were taller than any they'd seen so far. Off in the distance, they saw the dark green swell of an approaching forest.

'Can you tell us anything about who we'll be working with? Another bunch of agents, or will the two guys in the next SUV be staying?'

'Not them.' said Uncle Jim with a shake of his head. 'They'll be coming back with me. The rest of the team at the field station are pretty much their own self-contained unit...'

'So we'll have a free hand once we're out there?' said Grimm.

'Oh, I didn't say_ that_.' said Uncle Jim. 'You'll be working with, and reporting to, someone I met out in the field. He's a strange fellow, but I trust him to the hilt.'

'Who is he?' said Grimm.

'Darndest thing.' said Uncle Jim. 'He runs a camp out in this forest, and he's a bona-fide Indian Chief.'

Rhonda was suddenly sitting up in her seat. 'An... Indian Chief?' she said. 'Runs a _camp_?'

'And that's not all.' said Uncle Jim, smiling and shaking his head. 'He has an actual grizzly bear, and he just lets it run around the camp like some kind of pet. Never seen anything like it, but he's the real deal.'

'Grizzly... bear... _mascot_?' Rhonda squeaked, and she was suddenly looking wildly around at the surrounding trees, the mountains and the scenery.

Even Grimm was sitting up now. 'What's the _name_ of this camp?' he said.

'Ah... not sure. It's a mouthful, I'll tell you. Kwatcha...something-or-other.'

'Oh no...' Rhonda whispered. 'Oh _no_...!'

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

A day hiker was strolling along one of the roads leading through the forest. He was enjoying the colors of the woods, the smell of the trees, and the quiet. A quiet which was interrupted as a pair of SUVs came up behind. The hiker shook his head, irritated at this interruption, and stepped off to the side a little as the vehicles drove by with a rumbling of motors and crunching of tires. But as the last one passed, he heard something else - a piercing female scream. And he looked and saw a blonde haired girl with her face and hands pressed against the tinted rear window of the vehicle. Her face looked terrified, her eyes round, her mouth opened comically wide. Her shouts rose and fell in pitch with the Doppler effect as the SUV went by.

_'No! No! Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo!'_

Her last pitiful wail faded to silence as the motorcade drove on and disappeared into the distance. The hiker scratched his head, puzzled. Then he saw a small sign posted by the side of the road, on a faded white board with bold, black letters.

_5 miles to Kamp Kwitcherbeliakin_.

_**Coming Soon:**_

_**Chapter 8**_  
><em><strong>Welcome Back to Kwitcherbeliakin<strong>_


	9. Ch 8: Welcome Back to Kwitcherbelian

All Things Probable IV  
>Graduation<p>

Kim Possible is owned/copyrighted by Disney and its affiliates, etc. etc.  
>Chapter 8<p>

_**Welcome Back to Kwitcherbeliakin**_

Grimm stood in a wide parking lot. Though perhaps that might have been too generous a description. It was little more than an expanse of beaten dirt, carved out from a forest of trees that surrounded him on every side. The scent of pine was in the air, along with the moist, earthy smell that always accompanied the riotous growth between spring and summer.

He was leaning against a black SUV. There were a number of other cars in the lot, most of which looked as if they'd been parked there for some time. He sighed and looked around at the towering trees, though his glance occasionally strayed to a construct some distance away. It was a gate made with stone bases that supported sturdy log poles. Perched at the top of a pair of these poles was an arched wooden sign that said, _Kamp Kwitcherbeliakin_.

Beyond the camp entrance he could see an array of cabins and simple buildings that stretched away towards a sparkling sweep of blue which marked a nearby lake. Grimm heard a whimper from inside the SUV, and sighed again.

'You may as well come out, Rhonda.' he said. 'Just get it over with.'

'No!' she wailed softly. 'Bad road! _Bad_ road!'

'Yesterday you said you were OK with nature stuff - what happened?'

'Not _this_ nature stuff! Every time I come here, something terrible happens!'

'It wasn't _all_ terrible.' Grimm sighed.

Uncle Jim came around from the front of the SUV, where he had been talking to the CIA agents who had accompanied them to the camp. 'Is she OK?' he said, doubtfully.

'Rhonda has... a _history_ with this place.' said Grimm. 'They go _way_ back.'

Uncle Jim scratched his head. 'Well if you _know_ the Chief already, that's good.' he said. 'But if she's got some kind of problem...'

'There's no problem.' Grimm broke in quickly. He didn't want Uncle Jim to think twice about the assignment. 'She just needs a minute. Go ahead and let Sakituya know we're here.'

Jim nodded and walked off towards the camp gate. The black suited agents were letting down the ramp to the trailer and starting to unload their gear. 'Come on, Rhonda...' he said cajolingly. 'You're embarrassing me in front of the CIA...'

Rueful poked his head out of the door and sniffed, then bounded out of the SUV and started scurrying around. Grimm heaved a breath of relief, because if Rueful had come out, it meant Rhonda was sure to follow. And indeed, Rhonda's face slowly leaned out from behind the armrest of the back seat. Rhonda eased her body out to the doorway slowly, looking back and forth. And Grimm waited patiently as she probed one foot outwards onto the running board, then the other.

'There's no... giant bears, right?' she said in a high pitched whine.

'Not a one in sight.' said Grimm. 'Come on babe, you know as well as I do the Great Bear doesn't work that way. The times he appeared to us were all under _extremely_ weird circumstances. Nothing like that this time around. I doubt any mystical entities care a fig about this case.'

'I meant the _normal_ giant bear that's usually here.'

'No sign of him either.' said Grimm.

Rhonda closed her eyes and let out a deep slow breath. Then she gingerly lowered one foot onto the earth outside the SUV. She hesitated, as if waiting for some kind of explosion, but there was none forthcoming. She bit her lip and lowered her other foot.

'See?' Grimm smiled indulgently. He took her hand and pulled her out of the vehicle. 'Nothing to worry about.'

With her eyes still closed, Rhonda took several deep breaths and managed a couple of baby steps away from the SUV with Grimm guiding her. Soon they were walking through the arched gate and into the camp itself. Rhonda had her face scrunched up and her whole body was trembling as if she thought a guillotine blade would drop from the gate onto her.

'Nothing here but fresh air and sunshine.' said Grimm.

'Well...' said Rhonda at last, '...so far so good...'

'Welcome back, young Rhonda.'

At the sound of Sakituya's voice, Rhonda yelped and nearly fell over. Grimm looked over towards the largest cabin, which served as the main hall of the camp, and saw the Indian Chief walking towards them. He looked the same, with his brown poncho and vest, breeches worn over his jeans, and his Blackfoot headdress atop a crown of dark, but greying hair. He held his beaded staff as usual, and his wrinkled face was smiling, though there seemed to be a grave look in his eyes. Uncle Jim was beside him.

Rhonda looked wildly around as Sakituya approached. 'Where's..._he_?' she said, her voice quavering.

Chief Sakituya stopped in front of them, shaking hands with Grimm. 'Gentle Paw?' he said. 'Truth be told, I am not sure.'

'You still don't keep him _leashed_?' Rhonda wailed.

Sakituya chuckled. 'I do not _control_ Gentle Paw.' he said. 'Any more than I can control any other beast of the woods. He is free to come and go as he wishes, and I am sure he will return soon. He will be very pleased to see you again.' He turned to Grimm and they both nodded to each other politely. '_Otaatoyiwa_.' he said. 'It is good to see you again as well.'

'Chief.' he answered. 'Thanks for letting us base here for our... investigations. Uncle Jim tells me the grass vandals that we're trying to hunt down struck somewhere nearby?'

Chief Sakituya nodded. 'Yes - though I fear it is more than mere vandalism. We will hold a council soon, and discuss the matter more thoroughly. For the moment, we must make sure that you and your tools are properly settled.'

Uncle Jim scratched his head and shrugged. 'Well normally when I introduce and coordinate different teams, it takes a lot longer. But as you already know each other, there's not much for me to do this time out.'

'I hope the rest of it goes just as smoothly.' said Grimm, and he thought he caught a flash in Sakituya's eyes at the words.

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

Soon Rhonda was standing in the entrance of a cabin. In front of her, she saw two desks, a couple of chairs, and on either side of the log walled room, there were two bunk beds. One of them looked neat, but dusty, as if it was hardly ever used. The other had a twisted and misshapen frame, with only one squashed mattress at the base.

She winced, her mind flashing back to the weeks of misery she'd spent in this cabin many summers ago. Terrified and trapped, as she thought, with the camp's grizzly bear mascot. 'Uh, aren't there any _other_ cabins free?' she said.

Chief Sakituya shrugged as the black-suited CIA agents ferried boxes and suitcases into the cabin. 'The other cabins are reserved for when summer guests arrive.' he said. 'Besides, Gentle Paw has never allowed anyone else to use this cabin since you were here as a child. He seems to think it is yours, whether you claim it or not.'

'Will he be OK with _me_?' said Grimm, carrying in some of their bags.

Sakituya smiled briefly. 'He understands you are... special to young Rhonda.' he said, and Rhonda blushed furiously.

Once their personal bags were stowed, they left the agents to handle the rest of their equipment, and stepped back outside of the cabin. From above and behind them, there was a sudden chorus of twitters and squeals. Grimm turned and saw a number of small animals perched on the eaves of the cabin. Songbirds, raccoons, and squirrels formed a high-pitched chorus. Rhonda smiled and waved up at them weakly. 'Hi, guys.' she said warily. 'How's it hangin'?'

The forest animals flapped their wings and thumped their feet while Rueful also waved from his perch on Rhonda's shoulder. There was a large hawk in the center of the animals clustered on the roof, and it let out a shrill cry. 'What?' said Rhonda. 'Say hello to my best... friend? Who...?' But she whirled and looked behind her. About twenty yards off to one side, the wall of the forest loomed, and there was a sudden thrashing sound from the trees and undergrowth.

Rhonda shrank behind Grimm as a huge grizzly bear burst forth from the foliage, loping towards them. Despite its size, the bear conveyed an almost puppy-like sense of friendliness. But Rhonda kept Grimm between her and the bear as if it were a giant scorpion.

'And hello, Gentle Paw.' said Grimm. Gentle Paw was shambling around both of them in a wide circle, seeming utterly delighted at the sight of them, though his dark eyes, peering out from overhanging tufts of fur, were mostly fixed on Rhonda. 'Looks like the gang's all here.'

'Why _me_?' Rhonda moaned.

'Come on.' Grimm said. 'The last time you were here, you were letting him lick your face.'

'Yeah, but I've had time to _think_ about it since then!'

Chief Sakituya simply stood outside of Gentle Paw's capering circle, smiling and shaking his head very slightly. Gentle Paw skidded to a heavy stop in front of them and started raising and lowering his head in a series of low growls. Grimm didn't have any idea what it meant, but Rhonda suddenly flinched.

'Show me _what?_' she said, timidly, and Gentle Paw nodded and shambled off to the edge of the woods again. He paused at the edge and started yowling, then shuffled back a few paces. From the shadow of the overhanging trees, three brown shapes tumbled out into the clearing. Three bear cubs, each about the size of a juvenile dog, lined up beside Gentle Paw, staring at Rhonda with open mouths and wide eyes.

Rhonda looked wildly over at Chief Sakituya. 'Kids?' she squeaked. 'Gentle Paw's got _kids_?'

'_Cubs_, young Rhonda.' said the Indian chief with a smile. 'As I said, he is free to come and go. That includes finding a mate, if he wishes...'

'Oh great, now there's _four_ of him!' Rhonda groaned. 'So where's the _missus_?' Gentle Paw grunted as he re-approached, the three cubs scampering around him. 'Oh, 'too wild'?' Rhonda scoffed. 'Around _this_ place, who can tell?' But she stiffened and shrank back as the bear cubs started snuffling at her knees.

Grimm nudged Rhonda gently, for it felt like she was about to jump onto his shoulders to get out of their reach. 'Easy, hot stuff.' he said. 'They're just like teddy bears - you like teddy bears, don't you?'

'Aw _cheese..._' Rhonda squeaked, standing stock still with her arms and legs clamped at her sides, her eyes squeezed shut as the bear cubs continued to inspect her. Each of them started licking at her hands, and growling. At that point Rhonda jerked her arms up and glared at Gentle Paw. 'What have you been _telling_ these guys?' she said, her voice rising. 'I do _not_ taste like berries - what is _with_ you?'

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

Rhonda tried to keep her distance, but the cubs were so playful and curious they kept following her, and she wound up skittering from cabin to cabin. The cubs even seemed to enjoy that, as if it were a game of tag. And while Gentle Paw didn't join in, he watched all the proceedings from a distance as if seeing his cubs playing with Rhonda was the proudest moment of his life.

Grimm took the opportunity to address the Indian Chief less casually. 'You never told me you were a member of the CIA.' he said. 'It looks like I'm not the only one who guards his secrets.'

'_Member of_ is perhaps too strong a way to say it.' said Sakituya. 'But I have known your uncle for some time. His wife is a great lover of animals, and horses especially are her friends. It was through their ranch that we came to know each other. They once required medical assistance with some of their foals, and heard that our camp had experience in treating both humans and animals...'

'That doesn't explain how you came to join with Uncle Jim in his... profession.' said Grimm. In the background, Rhonda was squealing and dashing towards the mess hall with the bear cubs in pursuit.

Sakituya shrugged. 'Indians have a long history with aiding your government in times of great need.' he answered. 'The Navajo code-talkers of World War 2 for example...'

Grimm nodded. 'And my uncle...?'

'If he has not told you the specifics... then it is not my place to tell.' he said. 'You may ask him though, if he is disposed to speak of it.'

Grimm actually smirked and nodded again. 'Well answered.' he said. 'Since you know as well as I do that if it's a top secret subject, _no one_ is allowed to say anything.'

'You are testing _me_, _Otaatoyiwa_?' said Sakituya with a faint smile. 'And I trust I have passed?'

'My uncle said he trusts you.' Grimm said. 'That goes a long way. As for me, I say - _trust but verify_. The last time we were out here, me and Rhonda were nearly killed because information was withheld.'

'As always, your lessons in caution are well learned.' Sakituya said. 'But caution is not far removed from wavering. And I think in your work here now, you may be required to take a firm stand.'

Grimm raised an eyebrow. 'What's that supposed to mean?'

Sakituya gave him a slow smile. 'I must _withhold_ that information, at least for now.' he said. 'At the council, you will hear many things. Then you will decide what to trust, and what to verify.'

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

Their gear had been organized and put away, and transmitters set up which were powerful enough to allow communication with Jade at the ranch. Rhonda seemed to have ditched Gentle Paw and his cubs, at least for the moment. She and Grimm met at the camp gate to say goodbye to Uncle Jim.

'You're all set to go.' said Jim, looking out from the window of his SUV. The two agents were in the second vehicle, expressionless from behind their shades as they had been the entire trip. 'I'll be keeping tabs on things and coordinating through your hacker. And you'll be coordinating through Chief Sakituya. I look forward to hearing your first field report.'

Grimm shook his hand and nodded. 'You won't be disappointed.' he said. 'After all, part of our motto is that we can do anything.'

Jim paused. 'What's the other part?'

Grimm shrugged and smirked. 'If you pay enough money.'

Jim chuckled. 'You _will_ actually be compensated - if you come through.' he said. 'They may not be your usual rates, but...'

'In this case, I'm content to do it as an investment.' said Grimm. 'But of course, money never _hurts_...'

'Good luck.' Jim nodded, then the tinted window was whirring shut. The SUV motors hummed, and with a crunch of dirt and gravel, they were driving off. Once both SUVs had gone, the sounds and smells of the forest seemed to close in on them again, along with a vague feeling of isolation.

'Well, o.k...' said Rhonda clapping her hands and looking around. 'Let's get this over with - so where do we start?'

Grimm turned and started back towards the gate leading into the camp. 'By having frank discussion with our host.'

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

Sakituya was waiting for them in front of the main hall. Gentle Paw seemed to be taking a nap in a patch of sunlight on the porch. His cubs were curled up and snoozing beside him. Grimm was about to speak, but Rhonda _shushed_ him with a nervous glance at Gentle Paw's furry hulk. She tiptoed into the hall, gesturing the others to follow her silently. Once they were inside, she closed the door gingerly, then heaved a great sigh.

The cabin had an earth floor, with a fire pit in the center. A wide hole was carved into the roof to allow smoke to escape. At the moment though, the pit was cold and empty, except for the black charred stones that lined it and a few stubborn fragments of charcoal. Sakituya had gone to a table and taken a seat on one of many sawed logs that served as stools, and motioned Grimm and Rhonda to do the same. Rueful was hopping from stump to stump curiously.

'So it's just us now?' said Rhonda, taking her seat and still looking around nervously. 'We're it for the whole mission?'

'Not quite.' said Chief Sakituya with a shake of his head. 'There are more who will be joining us here, as I said. There must be a council.'

'Before that happens,' said Grimm, 'I want to talk, just the three of us.'

'And I call that _no one_ is allowed to say "_This is my way of telling you_"!' Rhonda chimed in.

'Yeah.' said Grimm, nodding. 'Don't keep any information from us because you thought we knew it already.' Despite their familiarity, the fact that this was an actual mission for the CIA made Grimm want to make things more... _formal_ somehow. 'Our mission is to identify, and if possible, track down and capture the person, or persons, who have been burning symbols into grass fields. It's been happening all over the world, and the CIA wants answers.'

'And once we do that, we're _outta_ here!' Rhonda chimed in, as if determined to make that point from the outset.

Sakituya nodded, but also sighed. 'I understand, my young friends. Your uncle has explained this to me already. And I have promised to help you in any way I can.'

Grimm nodded. 'We'll start our investigations by analyzing the marked field outside your camp.' he said. 'Uncle Jim says you're in charge on this, so we'll follow your lead and clear any reports we make with you first.'

Sakituya did not speak, he merely nodded.

Grimm and Rhonda shared a glance. Sakituya did not seem to be forthcoming as their 'leader' so far. So Grimm tried prompting him again. 'Before we go to the site, is there anything about this mission that we should know? Any information you may have gathered on your own?'

Sakituya now looked at them both very keenly. For a few heavy moments, he still did not speak. Then finally he said, 'You speak of this as a mission, _Otaatoyiwa_.' he said. 'But that does not come close to encompassing the mystery that has brought us here. Do you remember what I once said to you, about a coming storm?'

'Yes.' said Grimm, nodding.

'The storm is about to break.'

There was heavy silence for several seconds. Rhonda looked pale, and Rueful was shivering where he crouched on a table.

'O...k...' said Grimm slowly. 'And what exactly is the _nature_ of this storm?'

'I do not know.' said the Indian Chief, shaking his head.

Grimm tapped his finger on the table, but Sakituya did not volunteer anything else. 'When exactly will it break?' he tried again.

'I do not know.'

'But you think it has something to do with the symbols being burned into the ground?'

'Yes.' answered the Chief.

'What, exactly?'

'I do not know.'

Grimm sighed. As usual, trying to get usable information from the Chief was like trying to pull teeth. 'All right...' he said, fighting to remain patient. 'Maybe first you should tell us what you _do_ know.'

'I only know that there is more to your mission than meets the eye. You, and your government may think this to be simple mischief. Or you may think it is the secret doings of groups with sinister motives. But it is more than that. And there will be yet more to come.'

There was again another pause. 'What makes you think so?' Grimm ventured.

'Because _Sskipoyiwa_ has hinted as much when he...'

'_What?_' Rhonda squealed, jumping to her feet. 'Maze is mixed up in this? Jeez, you should have said _that_ first!' She was leaning forward, looking furious. 'Where is he? I never did get to _thank_ him for sending me on that little vacation to the spirit world!'

'Calm yourself, _Katasiistsikoowa_.' said Chief Sakituya. 'He is not here now, nor do I know where he is hiding. But he _is_ nearby, and I have spoken with him.'

Grimm felt as anxious and angry as Rhonda looked, but he bottled it up in his desire for more information. 'How do you know he's involved with the grass damage? Did he admit to it?'

'Not directly.' said Sakituya. '_Sskipoyiwa_'s words must be sifted to find any truth hidden in them. When I examined the field beyond the forest, I recognized the signs of Maze's shadow medicine. I do not think he is responsible for destroying these fields. But he is using his shadows to mask whatever is causing the damage.'

'Letting them do it without detection.' said Grimm, who knew from experience how hard it was to track the shadow shaman. 'That explains why they haven't been caught. But you can _sense_ him?'

'If you are imagining that I can lead you to him, I must disappoint you.' said Sakituya. 'When a person feels the night wind, he still cannot tell you from where it comes. Still, I urge you to exercise caution while you are here. He blames you for defeating his schemes, and I do not doubt he still seeks revenge.'

'So what's with the grass thing then?' Rhonda said. 'He used funky symbols last time to make golems, right? Is he trying that again?'

'No, that was different.' said Grimm. 'The symbols he used back then were Hebrew. The symbol being burned into the ground now isn't.'

'That is true.' said Sakituya. 'Whatever medicine is linked with this symbol, it is unknown. I cannot tell what it may stand for, or what its purpose might be. I only know that _Sskipoyiwa_ hinted that he was responsible for the one that was set in the plains beyond the forest.'

'He must have teamed up with someone else again.' Grimm said, shaking his head. 'There's no way he could pull off a global operation on his own. He wasn't able to go anywhere with his golem scheme until he brought in Monkey Fist.'

'But Monkey Fist is still on ice.' said Rhonda. 'And Maze isn't really part of the super-villain club. I doubt he could just knock on the door of Dementor or the Mather. It's gotta be someone else he knows...' She suddenly snapped her fingers. 'Dr. Drakken!' she said. 'Didn't you say he signed on with the statue caper? Maze knew him too!'

Grimm shrugged. 'Yeah, but remember? Drakken was the one who finked the location of their base to Possible. Maze wouldn't team up with someone who double-crossed him. Besides, we already talked with Drakken, and he was was too busy playing with his plants to mount any kind of global operation.'

Rhonda looked less sure, but was squaring her shoulders. 'Well... then I think we overlooked something. It wouldn't be the first time Drakken hoodwinked us. And angry villains don't always _stay_ mad at each other - if they think they can take over the world by teaming up.'

Grimm was shaking his head. 'I don't think it's him.' he said.

'But Drakken is...' Rhonda spluttered, but Grimm had turned to Sakituya.

'I want to visit the site where the mark is, and conduct a scan.' He said. 'If there are more clues, that's where they'll be.'

Sakituya nodded. 'As you wish - I will supply you with the location. There is little I can tell you besides what I have said already. Perhaps your instruments will reveal more...'

Rhonda leaned back with her mouth open, stabbed with a sudden resentment that Grimm had so casually dismissed her ideas, and noting that he had said _I_ instead of _we_.

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

Rhonda maintained a frosty silence as they rode the _Ksikkihkíni_, following a map that Sakituya had given them. But Grimm didn't seem to notice, which only annoyed her further. He was focusing on the horizon, quickly leaving the forest behind them and reaching a wide expanse of plains. Tall grass was rippling far beneath them like an ocean of shifting green waves as far as the eye could see.

Grimm hit the dashboard communicator. 'Jade, you copy? We're clear of the forest and on our way to the site.'

'Loud and clear, G-man.' came Jade's tinny voice. 'Looks like the transmission boosters are doing the trick. So the Chief isn't coming with?'

'No room on the bike for three.' said Grimm. 'Besides, he keeps saying he doesn't know anything.'

'Not sure what _we _can gather, either.' Jade answered. 'Going over Killigan's lawn didn't turn up much. Why should this site be any different?'

'Won't know for sure until we look.' said Grimm. 'Besides, Sakituya said his 'council' would be assembled and ready by the time we get back.'

'Council? What the heck's that?'

'Beats me.' said Grimm. 'He's in charge, so he must have some other people in mind to add to the team. We'll see. But he did spill one useful piece of information - Maze is involved in this.'

Jade sounded like she was gagging for a second. 'The golem jerk?' she squeaked a moment later.

'Yeah. So dredge up all the intel on him that we've got, and pass it on to Uncle Jim. Maze is already on the wanted list because of the golem scheme, so the CIA should be made aware. If we can find Maze, we can track down who he's working for. And once the CIA has names and faces, the case should wrap up pretty quick. But be sure to beef up security at the ranch. Sakituya said Maze was probably hiding somewhere nearby, and we can't rule out that he might go after you.'

'Yeesh, thanks for the nice surprise...'

'And look for more while I'm scanning the grounds. Looks like we're nearly there - stand by.'

Rhonda had been sulking through the whole exchange, staring off at nothing, but then she felt the bike turning in a sweeping semi-circle. It was then that she looked down and saw, black against the thick grass, a gaping swath of earth that was bare of any vegetation. It had the same shape as the other symbols, clearly visible from their high vantage point, and looming larger as they descended.

With the _Ksikkihkíni_ nestled among the tall reeds of the surrounding grass, Rhonda stepped gingerly through the stalks. There was a light wind, which filled her ears with a constant hissing sigh as the grass rustled around her.

But only a few feet from the bike the grass suddenly ended, and the charred ground which formed the symbol was beneath her feet. Grimm was several paces into the bare patch, bent almost to his knees, and sweeping his communicator back and forth. The computerized whine of the scanners sounded out of place in the empty plains.

'You getting this, Jade?' Grimm said.

'Yeah.' Jade answered, her voice sounding flat. 'But the readings are the same as the ones we took at Killigan's - just like I told you...'

And Rhonda started to tune things out as he and Jade went back and forth, trying to fine-tune the scans to pick up anything new. Instead, she simply wandered around the border of the symbol, kicking idly at the bare earth and stirring up puffs of dust. Except for the wind rattling the grass, everything was quiet. With just her, Grimm and Rueful there, and no other humans, animals or structures within sight in any direction, it felt lonely. Just for something to do, she began humming the Blackfoot chants she habitually practiced in her backyard retreat.

_ Omahkkiaayowa, Nitohpoksiiyikitapiiyi..._

'Come on, there has to be something...' Grimm muttered.

'Sorry, G-man. It's just plain incinerated. There's no trace of chemicals, radiation or anything else...'

'Sakituya said this happened about three days ago.' Grimm said. He was near the edge of the burn now, and paused. 'This is strange.' he said. 'The burn ends sudden - _very_ sudden.' He kept the scanner focused on the border between the charred ground and the surrounding grass.

At her work station, Jade had her chin propped on her wrist and elbow as she watched the camera view. 'Yeah.' she said, yawning. 'But if they used a laser of some kind, you'd expect to see that...'

'After three days? Except for the ashes having blown away, it still looks fresh. There ought to be _something_ starting to grow back, even if it's just weeds.'

And looking again, Jade found her own interest rising. The borderline between the burn and the grass did still look like it had been carved with a scalpel. The ragged look of nature trying to send plants back in to the void was totally absent, as if something was stopping any regrowth from happening.

'Whenever my dad made me weed the garden, sometimes I'd see things poking up through the ground again in a few _hours_.' Grimm said. 'Out here in the wild, grow back would come even faster. So what's preventing it?'

Jade was running several spectrographic graphs now, darting her head up and down as she checked the camera footage against multiple program windows. 'I... don't know.' she said. 'That _is_ weird...'

Grimm was taking out some small containers from his hip pouch. 'I'll collect samples from the soil inside the burn area, and from outside.' he said. 'We'll swing by the ranch on the way back to Kwitcherbeliakin. Once I get them to you, use everything you've got to find out what the difference is.'

_ Omahkkiaayowa, Nitohpoksiiyikitapiiyi..._

Rhonda simply kept humming while she strolled inside the burn area. Rueful had hopped down from her shoulder and was darting in and out from the grass border. Her eyes were unfocused, squinting slightly against the glare of the sun, which was high and white in the sky. And then she paused.

The burn area seemed dimmer to her somehow, as if it were lying under shade - even though it was fully exposed to the sunny sky. And outside the burn area, that shade seemed to disappear, with the green tips of the high grass blazing almost yellow under the sunlight. She stood with her mouth hanging open, looking back and forth between the grass and the burned earth. She approached the edge and stuck her hand out into the grassy area. It felt warmer there as well, with a clear feeling of the sun beating down on her arm. But inside the burn area, it was more shadowy, and colder.

The sound of Grimm's scanning, and his chatter with Jade also seemed to be fading, with the rustling of the grass seeming louder and louder. A flash of movement that was not waving grass caught her eye, and she started. _Something_ had slid across her field of vision, a shape hidden deep in shadow behind the grasses that surrounded her, and she heard a brushing sound that was not the rustling grass...

'Ready to go?'

Rhonda nearly shouted when Grimm laid his hand on her shoulder. She flinched, and in the moment when she broke eye contact with the area she had been looking at - the shape she thought she had seen had disappeared. She stared back, trying to catch a glimpse again, but it was gone, and she was no longer certain she had seen anything.

'You all right?' Grimm said.

'Yeah..' Rhonda said. 'This place just... feels weird.'

Grimm looked around. 'Well, I've scanned as much as I can for the moment. Let's drop these first samples off with Jade, then get back to the camp. We can come back again later if we need to.'

Part II: Meanwhile Back At The Ranch

When Grimm and Rhonda had been loaded up in the CIA's vans and driven off, Jade had spent her time in the log cabin room getting things ready. She had never been the kind to let grass grow under her feet, and after an intense session of going over the computers that had been set up, she was finally satisfied. She'd used their own equipment to go through the systems, cleaned out the CIA's tracking devices, established links to her system in Riddleton, quadruple-checked to make sure they couldn't be tracked, and a number of other things, mostly to make this remote station as much like home as possible.

But eventually it was all set up and ready to go, and she found herself with some time to kill. So she slipped a communicator into her pocket, then set out to explore the ranch. But that didn't take long either. Ranches, in general, weren't big on novelty. They were working and living areas for livestock, and if you had no experience with animals, that didn't leave you with much to do. So she wound up merely kicking her heels and wandering from place to place. She wished she were wearing her normal sandals, but the thought that she might bump into Josh kept her wearing the dress and heeled shoes, uncomfortable though they were.

She caught sight of a woman in jeans and a hat riding through a field with a number of other horses following after her. That had to be Grimm's aunt. When Rhonda had told her that Grimm's aunt was Ms. Darken's sister, her mouth had hung open for almost a full minute in amazement. Then she felt angry at herself, because for all her skill in finding secrets and hacking information, _this_ particular tidbit had totally escaped her.

She was distracted by the arrival of several girls, who looked to be her own age. They had ridden in on a number of bikes and trooped into the ranch, making a bee-line for the front door. There was a blonde girl who seemed to be leading them, with her walk as more of a strut. Then they seemed to notice Jade, and diverted to where she was leaning against a fence post for one of the horse pens.

'Who are _you_?' said the blonde girl, and there was an almost Donnie-Stoneport-ish disdain in her voice and eyes.

'Who's asking?' Jade said, her dander going up at once, even though she didn't know any of these girls.

The blonde girl tossed her hair and kept a smile hitched in place, but her eyes narrowed, making the smile almost a leer. 'Priscilla Fairchild.' she said. 'And _you_?'

'Jade Omo-sa.' she answered. Priscilla and the girls clustered behind her shared a quick series of glances as if they were communicating telepathically.

'Not a _relative_ of the Probables, then.' said Priscilla when she turned back. 'And I haven't ever seen you at school. What are you doing here?'

Jade was liking these strangers less by the second. None of them were smiling now, and they had the air of a street gang who had found someone on their turf. But since she was on a gig for the CIA, she had an excuse for trotting out one of Grimm's favorite lines. 'Nunna.' she answered. 'As in, _nunna your beeswax._'

A black-haired girl behind Priscilla started forward, saying, 'Why you...' but Priscilla held up a hand and she desisted, stepping back. Priscilla's eyes had now become a glare. 'Since you're _new_ here we'll let that slide.' she said. 'But strangers ought to be more polite, especially when they're all by themselves.'

Jade sniffed. She had helped Grimm going up against Monkey Fist and his golems, so she wasn't at all scared of a pack of territorial girls. Still, there were at least _six_ of them...

'Afternoon, girls.' came a voice, and a shadow loomed up behind Jade, making her start. Grimm's aunt had ridden up and was looking down at them all from her mount, a horse with a brown coat and white spots. 'What brings you to the ranch? School's out for the summer.'

'Mrs. Probable!' said Priscilla, and her face had immediately relaxed into a wide-smiled simper. 'We were just saying hello to Josh's... _cousin_?' she ended with a nasty look back at Jade.

'She's our house guest.' Mrs. Probable answered, adjusting her hat. 'She'll be staying with us for a few days.'

'Oh, how... _lovely_.' Priscilla said through gritted teeth.

'A bit out of the way for a bike trip.' said Mrs. Probable, looking over to where the girls' bikes were leaned against the entrance gate. 'Is Josh... expecting you?' And Jade couldn't help noticing that while Mrs. Probable's face was smiling and polite, the tone of her voice had dropped a few degrees in temperature.

'We just popped by to give him his invitation to the barn dance.' said Priscilla, fishing out a red envelope. 'Is he... _here_?' And now Jade noted that _all_ of the girls were red-cheeked and a couple were giggling openly as they looked around.

'He's inside.' said Mrs. Probable, neatly dismounting and hitching the horse to one of the fence poles. 'Go ahead and leave it with me, I'll see it gets to him.'

'Ah... of course.' said Priscilla hesitantly, but she handed the envelope over to Mrs. Probable all the same. The other girls looked crestfallen.

'Thank you.' she said. And for a few moments there was awkward silence. 'Well, enjoy your ride back out.' she said at last.

It was clearly not the way the girls seemed to have wanted things to go, but they muttered several variations of _good day_ before heading back towards their bikes. Priscilla kept her simpering smile in place, the last to turn away. 'Do tell Josh we said hello.' she said, before turning and leaving.

'Oh, I'll make a point of it.' said Mrs. Probable, and her smile had become brittle.

With a last glare at Jade, the girls herded out through the gate, mounted their bikes and started riding off. Mrs. Probable remained there staring after them until they were out of sight down the gravel road leading to the ranch.

'_Cheese_, who were those harpies?' Jade said out loud, then remembered that Mrs. Probable was still there. 'I mean... such uncouth behavior.'

Mrs. Probable was unhitching her horse and stroking the side of its head while it snorted softly. 'Just some of Josh's classmates from school.' she said, but without any enthusiasm. 'They all seem to have their caps set for him, and at such a young age. Bit early in years for them to want a _fella_.'

Jade wasn't sure how to react. She wanted to laugh, because Mrs. Probable sounded just like Grimm's mom, and guilt, because like the other girls, she also liked Josh. _'Bit early in years?'_ she thought. She turned and hobbled after Mrs. Probable, squeezing through the horizontal poles of the corral. 'There's a dance?' she said. 'I wouldn't mind a look - I won't be hacking... uh, I mean, _doing tech support _the whole time.'

Mrs. Probable was entering the stables, and Jade saw her drop the dance invitation into a drum barrel with _TRASH_ painted on it in white letters. 'Fixing to go?' she said. 'Well I'd watch out for that local posse, if I were you.' she said, starting to lead her horse away towards a stable. 'I don't know if you've ever seen the way hens treat the odd one out, but it ain't pretty.'

'Oh I can handle a bunch of...' Jade said, but then caught herself. 'I mean, I'm sure we'll get on famously.'

Mrs. Probable now looked at her curiously, and Jade, uncomfortable under her stare, turned and started looking around inside the stable. A few horses were penned, standing quietly, snorting occasionally. The musty smell of a barn was all around them. To cover the silence, she picked an apple out of a hogshead barrel and approached one of the pens that had a lower gate. A pony with a cinnamon colored coat was housed in it. Jade stepped up, holding the apple out, and feeling like Mrs. Probable's eyes were boring a hole in the back of her neck.

'Be careful...' Mrs. Probable started, for the pony had stepped up, but it took a gentle bite from the apple in Jade's hand and stepped back, its horse lips twitching in a circle around its teeth as it chewed.

'Nice horse.' said Jade.

'No she isn't.' said Mrs. Probable, blinking. 'This one's been as feisty as blazes. Had to keep her apart from the others.'

'Maybe she just likes apples.' Jade shrugged, as the pony stepped forward again, took another bite, then stepped back.

'Didn't _like_ much of anything...' said Mrs. Probable. 'Up until now, it seems.' The pony had stepped up again and laid its nose on Jade's shoulder, sniffing. The warm breath puffed across her neck.

'Aaaah! What's it _doing_?' Jade said, shivering.

'Saying _hello_, looks like.' said Mrs. Probable, chuckling. The pony kept snuffling at Jade's shoulder. 'Just put up a hand nice and slow, pet her cheek gently.' Mrs. Probable said in a soothing voice. Jade did so, and the pony seemed to relax, letting out a quiet snort. 'Looks like she's taken a shining to you, missy.'

'Ah, don't _bond_ with me.' said Jade, though she kept petting the pony. 'I can't take you home, Dad would never let me keep a _horse_.'

'Your dad doesn't like animals?' said Mrs. Probable.

'He doesn't... _like_ much of anything.' said Jade sullenly. There was another silence, but focusing on petting the pony kept it from feeling awkward. The pony twitched her tail and lowered her head, and Jade switched to scratching behind her ears. 'Does she have a name?' Jade asked. 'Rainbow... _sparkle_ or something?'

Mrs. Probable let out a bark of laughter and shook her head. 'Actually hadn't named her yet.' she said. 'Feisty ones usually get names like _Twister_ or _Thunder_, but that just seems too on the nose.'

There was another silence, except for a munching sound as the pony slurped the last of the apple from Jade's hand. 'Well... gotta go.' Jade said, stepping away uncomfortably. 'I mean, good day to you, Mrs. Probable.' She started out of the stables and was headed back into the brightness of the corral when she heard Mrs. Probable call after her.

'I'll teach you to ride her sometime, if you want.' she said. 'And call me Gina. Easier for you and me.'

Unable to think of anything to say, Jade simply nodded and went back outside. _'Well that was kind of weird...'_ she thought. But as she was slipping back out through the corral fence, she heard a beep from her communicator.

'Jade, you copy?' came Grimm's voice. 'We're clear of the forest and on our way to the site...'

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

Flying back to the ranch on the _Ksikkihkíni_ was a lot faster than the drive. Without any winding roads to navigate, they could cruise directly over the terrain, and were back at the ranch in less than half an hour.

Uncle Jim dropped by while they were at their cabin handing off the soil samples to Jade. 'I'm impressed - you move fast.' he said. 'You haven't been on the job for more than a few hours, and you've already identified one of the perps.'

Grimm had to fight back a satisfied smirk. 'Identifying Maze only makes it trickier.' he said, talking to him while Rhonda and Jade were chatting at the other end of the cabin. 'If there's one thing he knows, it's how to hide.'

'But if he is involved, then the CIA wants him for sure.' said Jim darkly. 'He was one of the masterminds behind the golem attacks, so even setting aside the recent grass damage, he's got a lot to answer for.'

Grimm nodded. 'But I'd advise against sending a flood of CIA agents into the forest, banging pots and pans together. You won't drive him out of hiding that way.'

'How do you advise proceeding then?' Jim said. 'We can't just leave him on the loose. That was what wound up happening after the golem situation, and now he's returned.'

'For the moment, let us go back to the camp and keep working with Sakituya.' said Grimm. 'We got hints that Maze is in hiding somewhere in the forest. We still might be able to... _ferret_ him out.' he ended with a meaningful glance at Rueful, who was perched on Rhonda's shoulder.

Jim followed his glance and nodded. 'A scalpel vs. a bulldozer.' he muttered. 'Understood. You think Ms. Fatigable and her pet can do this?'

Grimm nodded. 'The last time we were there, she was able to find paths that even Maze couldn't.' he answered. 'Rhonda may not like Kamp Kwitcherbeliakin, but there's something about that place, and her, that just... _click_ if she's there for any length of time. Rhonda owes Maze some payback, _and_ Maze has a grudge against Rhonda. I get the feeling, with both of them in the same general location, Maze will eventually come to _us_. When he does, we'll be ready for him.'

'All right then.' said Jim. 'Keep the reports coming, and - good work.' Then he turned and went back towards the main house.

While Grimm and Uncle Jim were talking in the corner, Rhonda was talking to Jade. 'You think it was Maze out at the site?' Jade said. 'Did you _see_ him?'

'Not... really.' Rhonda confessed. 'It was more of a feeling. I haven't told Grimm yet, but I think he's right that you should set up some kind of security here at the ranch. I'm not scared of him, but if he came after _you_...'

'Well now that I'm clued in, he's gonna have the devil's time trying!' Jade said defiantly. 'We'll see if his shadow gimmicks can deal with a triple-layered sensor net and a bunch of needlers.'

'Just as long as you don't wind up getting Josh.' said Rhonda slyly. 'How are things going there?'

'Haven't seen him since we got here.' Jade shrugged. 'But it looks like I'm not his only fan girl. There were a whole bunch of them here a while ago trying to get him to some kind of dance.'

'A _dance_?' Rhonda said. 'Sounds romantic...'

'Shut _up_...' Jade said, digging at the floor with her shoe but blushing.

'And staying right here at the ranch could give you an edge over the locals...' Rhonda said. As much as Jade had hassled her and Grimm after they had started shipping, she was rather enjoying turning the tables on her. But this time Jade didn't answer, she only mumbled.

'Ready to leave?' Grimm was approaching now, and looking business-like again. Rhonda shared a quick glance with Jade, then nodded. Grimm also looked to Jade. 'I'm counting on you to find any differences in those samples.' he said. 'That could be important.'

'Word up, G-man.' Jade said.

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

An hour's flight found Grimm and Rhonda returning to Kamp Kwitcherbeliakin. After stowing the bike, they saw Chief Sakituya beckoning to them from the entrance of the main hall. When they started towards him, he disappeared inside.

'Wonder what he wants?' Rhonda grumbled.

'He probably...' Grimm started, but he stopped as they entered into the hall.

Chief Sakituya was standing near the fire pit. The long table had been pushed to the side of the room, and the fire pit was surrounded by a number of Indians, all of whom were staring at them with deep eyes. Others were seated on the sawed stumps scattered through the hall. There were many older Indians with grey hair, and many that seemed to be of middle age. There were also several young men, with a wide variety of dress styles. But all of them seemed to have the same blank, grim expressions. For several seconds, there was heavy silence.

'Sur-priiiiiise...' Rhonda said to Grimm through the corner of her mouth.

Wrong footed, but determined not to show it, Grimm focused his attention on Sakituya. 'So this is your... _council_?' he said carefully.

The Indian chief nodded solemnly, and turned to the assembly. 'My good friends,' he said, raising his voice. 'Though we meet now under dire circumstances, it is also with cause for hope and gladness. The Great Bear Spirit has chosen a new Priestess to join us in our time of need. Allow me to present to you, _Katasistsikoowa,_ and her friend, _Otaatoyiwa_.'

Silence fell again, and the faces looking at them did not show any reaction, either positive or negative. Grimm folded his arms and looked back at them defiantly, while Rhonda muttered. 'Should we... come back _later_...?'

'Chief Sakituya,' said a deep voice from a corner of the room. It was spoken by a man with a wrinkled face. His long hair was hanging in one thick braid behind his head, and he had one feather tied behind his ear. His stocky frame was mostly covered with a weathered duster. 'It is unbecoming for you to make jokes, especially now.'

Sakituya turned to him. 'I assure you, _Enkoodabaoo_, it is no jest.' He gestured to Rhonda. 'She _is_ the Bear Priestess.'

The man called _Enkoodabaoo_ was now scowling slightly. 'But they are mere children.' he said. 'And they are _white_.'

At this, Rhonda groaned and shook her head. 'Looks like Maze's fan club is here.' she said.

The similarity between _Enkoodabaoo_'s reaction, and what Maze had said when he first saw them, was not lost on Grimm either. 'Chief, if this is the crew that's supposed to be helping with our mission,' he said carefully, 'Then maybe we should take time out so you can sort the ones who actually _want_ to be here?'

'It is important that we take council now.' said Sakituya, looking coldly at _Enkoodabaoo_ for a moment. 'I fear we may have only a little time left before matters become more serious. When that happens, we will not have the luxury of time for peaceful _chatting_.'

'No!' said _Enkoodabaoo_, shaking his head. And while he did not raise his voice, the displeasure was heavy. He was starting to walk towards Grimm and Rhonda now, threading through the others who remained seated. 'I will lend my aid to the tribe as always, but to trust these matters to children? They should leave now so we can...'

There was a heavy thudding from behind, and a roar that sounded like a rasping, grating breath. Rhonda flinched, but Gentle Paw and his cubs had rushed into the hall and around her. They formed a wedge between _Enkoodabaoo_ and Rhonda. _Enkoodabaoo_ halted in alarm, stepping back as Gentle Paw reared up like a thundercloud with his teeth bared.

'_Ikkinikinsstiwa,_ enough!' barked Chief Sakituya, holding up his hand.

But Gentle Paw continued growling down at _Enkoodabaoo_, and to Grimm's surprise, Rhonda actually darted around the angry bear and got between him and the cowering Indian. She reached up and tugged at his massive forearm. 'Hey!' she shouted. 'Come on, calm down! Everything's cool here, everything's cool...'

Gentle Paw got back down on all fours, his growl ebbing down to a low thrumming in his throat. His cubs remained poised, their glittering eyes fixed on _Enkoodabaoo_. 'Thanks for the vote of confidence, though.' Rhonda muttered into Gentle Paw's ear. 'Wish I was as sure...'

The effect of this on the assembled crowd was swift. Everyone was now speaking in low, whispered Blackfoot to each other, nodding and looking impressed. _Enkoodabaoo_ had stepped back a few paces and was looking back and forth between Gentle Paw and Rhonda, his face a study in pure astonishment.

Sakituya laid a hand on his shoulder. 'I forgive your doubt.' he said, then turned to the assembly again. 'Perhaps when you heard the rumors, you came here expecting to see something more _legendary_?' The crowd did not answer. 'You should remember my friends, that people do not start out being legendary. They _become_ legendary through their actions. Legends... are _earned_ over time.'

'But...' _Enkoodabaoo_ said, but he fell silent as Gentle Paw let out a prolonged threatening growl, though the bear did not move from his crouch at Rhonda's side. The higher pitched growls of his cubs joined in, Rueful had also leaped down onto Gentle Paw's back to lend his own growl to the chorus.

'Come on guys, _indoor voices_...' Rhonda sighed, and the animals quieted.

After that, no one spoke for several seconds, and then Sakituya nodded. 'If this sign was not enough, then our cause is already in peril, because only together can we stand against what is to come. Let us all unite in this matter now, and set aside your doubts. I doubt none of you - least of all _Katasistsikoowa_.' When no one spoke again, he nodded. 'Let us begin the council.'

During all of this, Grimm had said little and had not moved, except to turn his observational skills onto the watching crowd. Taking the lead wasn't his strong suit - especially with large groups. He preferred small teams with people he trusted, and he was feeling quite out of his element. But he did note the change in aspect among the Indians after the bears had come to Rhonda's defense. But he felt unsure about this 'council' and its purpose. Sakituya had said there would be others joining them in the investigation. Grimm had thought he meant a few more specialists, not what looked like a whole tribe of Blackfoot Indians. What help could they possibly be? He had no idea how to take control in a situation like this. Working silently from the sidelines was what he and his team did best. So he kept his face impassive, and decided simply to play along for the time being. Then if he had any doubts, he would meet with Sakituya alone. He tapped Rhonda's shoulder, and they took seats on the only two vacant stumps left in the hall.

The Indians had turned their attention largely back to Sakituya, though several of them were still looking at Rhonda with interest. Rueful had skittered back onto her shoulder, and with a last _whuff_, Gentle Paw turned and started loping back to the hall entrance with his cubs behind him. 'We are met,' said Sakituya, 'Because certain signs have drawn us here. The field beyond the forest was destroyed as a warning, a sign of a great threat.'

_'And let me guess.'_ Grimm thought. _'You don't know what it is...'_

'We do not know exactly what it is.' said the Indian Chief, and Grimm had to fight to keep from rolling his eyes. 'But there is no doubt that _Sskipoyiwa_ has a hand in it.' At these words there was a renewed outbreak of quiet muttering from the assembly. 'His shadow medicine has become very strong.' Sakituya continued. 'But _Katasistsikoowa _has tasks to fulfil, and we cannot allow him to interfere.'

'But what can we do?' said _Enkoodabaoo_. 'If this girl is truly the Bear Priestess, then she has powerful medicine of her own which we cannot hope to match.'

Sakituya nodded. 'That may be so.' he answered. 'But there is also great strength in numbers - and in true friends. Therefore _all_ of you will play a most vital role in the coming events. I turn to you for your help, for each of you has medicine of your own as well. Courage, loyalty, strength of will, and your own talents. All these are needed. From this moment on, the camp must be guarded. And our keenest huntsmen must find _Sskipoyiwa_, if possible.'

The assembly muttered again, and many were nodding in agreement.

'You will coordinate with me, and together we will protect this camp, to maintain a safe haven for us all while we are here. This will give _Katasistsikoowa_ the guard she will need in order to act swiftly when the time comes. If there are any who object to this, you may now speak.' Sakituya ended with another glance towards _Enkoodabaoo_, but the grizzled Indian merely shrugged and stepped back to join the others in the surrounding semi-circle.

Sakituya nodded. 'Very good. Your aid will be most welcome.' He turned to a weather-stained Indian who had said nothing, but stood closest to Sakituya the whole time. '_Samoset_. You are the most travelled, and know the lands both in and around the camp. I trust you to form the most able teams for both guard, and hunting. All of you will follow his instruction, unless otherwise directed. Once that has been accomplished, I will give further instruction. That is all I will say for now.'

Many among the assembled Indians looked back and forth among each other, but then they rose from their seats and followed _Samoset_ out of the hall. Soon only Sakituya, Grimm and Rhonda were left. Grimm frowned. It hadn't been much of a 'council', and he wasn't sure he felt comfortable with them guarding the camp, especially knowing what Maze was capable of. 'You know, you could have told us about this beforehand.' he said.

Sakituya looked bemused. 'This _is_ my way of...' he started, but Rhonda broke over him.

'Hey, I called _no one _was allowed to say that!' she snapped. 'And I want that to be a standing rule!'

Sakituya now chuckled softly. 'As you wish.' he said. 'But as I recall, I _did_ inform you both that there would be a council, and that there would be others in attendance.'

'But you didn't say what kind of council it would be, who would be coming, or how many.' Grimm said. 'I know you're in charge of this mission, but neither of us like being kept out of the loop.'

Sakituya looked at them evenly. 'Do you _object_ to these arrangements?'

Grimm sighed. 'My only objection is that we don't know any of these people, and we're supposed to entrust them with our security?'

'Do you trust me?' said Sakituya, and the question hung uncomfortably for several seconds before Grimm answered.

'Yes.' he said, 'But that trust takes a hit when you spring surprises like this.'

'Then I will say this for your comfort,' said Sakituya gravely. 'I am the Chief of the Blackfoot tribe in these parts. I know each of the persons whom I have called to be here. And I would trust any one of them with my life.' When Grimm didn't answer, the Indian chief sighed. 'As with the last time you were here, trust does not come easily to you, _Otaatoyiwa_.'

'Sometimes mistrust undeserved is safer than rashness.' Grimm said.

Sakituya shrugged. 'Then, as legends are earned over time, so I hope our actions will earn your trust.' he said. I think you will find my people to be able and skilled in their craft. In any case, you would not find _Sskipoyiwa_ with your machines.' he said. 'His woodcraft is strong, and you will need my people in order to manage any kind of effective defense.'

'We'll see.' Grimm answered. 'But you also said we would hear "many things" at this council. We didn't hear all that much.'

'That is a matter of perception.' said Sakituya. From what I saw, much was accomplished. You have seen our tribe now, and they have seen you. Moreover, they have seen with their own eyes a glimpse of the power that _Katasistsikoowa _holds, which will give them cause for thought, as well as motivating their efforts. They will act firmly now, both to defend the camp and to hunt for _Sskipoyiwa_.'

'Well, I was kinda hoping to learn more stuff about this _danger_ that's supposed to be coming.' Rhonda muttered. 'How are we supposed to deal with it if we don't know what it is?'

'When my people find _Sskipoyiwa_, it is my hope that we will learn much more.' said the Indian chief.

'I'll be impressed if they do. I remember what happened last time we tried to find him.' said Grimm, wincing at the memory of time spent scrambling around with Team Possible, trying to track down Monkey Fist's hidden lair. 'If he doesn't want to be found, he won't be.'

'Though perhaps he is more relaxed this time.' came a deep voice from across the hall.

Grimm and Rhonda leaped to their feet. Standing in a shadowed corner and looking totally at his ease, was Maze himself. He was staring at them with slitted eyes, and a thin lipped smile.

'You...!' Rhonda spluttered, lurching forward with a fist raised. But Grimm put a hand on her shoulder and held her back.

Even Sakituya looked surprised. '_Sskipoyiwa_.' he said. 'Why have you come here? I need only raise my voice and...'

'...And I would vanish from your camp as easily as I entered.' said Maze. 'And then how would I answer your questions?'

Grimm paused, connecting several strands of thought in a splintered second. Now that the object of their investigations was right there in front of them, he didn't want to squander the opportunity. He didn't doubt that Maze wasn't boasting, and that he could escape at any moment. But if they were patient and played it cool, they would eventually have him. The moment would come when he would let Rhonda dash at him like an angry rhinoceros, but for now, he wanted to fish for information. '_Sskipoyiwa_.' said Grimm. 'I see you've got some new hardware.'

Maze adjusted his gauntlets and his eyepiece. 'I have grown to... _appreciate_ the marvels of technology.' he said. 'It affords me certain advantages. More than ever, I can come and go without detection - as you can now attest.'

'So what's your game?' Grimm growled, and he felt Rhonda still straining against his grip. '_This_ is your big revenge for failing with the golems? Ruining golf courses?' Maze didn't answer for several seconds. He simply stood there with that amused smile on his face. 'Come on Maze - you didn't come here just to stare at us.' Grimm said at last.

'As always, you have many questions, _Otaatoyiwa_.' Maze drawled, examining his gauntleted hand. 'Let put one to _you_. How do you know I didn't do all of this merely to draw you forth from your hidden refuge for an attack?'

'Because if the name of the game was assassination, you'd have struck already.' Grimm said. 'That says to me - you _want _something from us.'

Maze laughed. 'If it pleases you to think so.' he said. 'Still... I would advise you to sleep lightly, and _armed_. I could strike at any time...'

'Go ahead and _try_ it you lousy...!' Rhonda shouted, but again, Grimm pulled her back.

'So what exactly do you want?' said Grimm. 'You know we're mobilizing to capture you. You could save us the trouble and just give yourself up now.'

Maze chuckled. 'You would be bored by such an easy victory, _Otaatoyiwa_.' he said. 'You always enjoy demonstrating your skills - to deny you that opportunity would be... cruel.'

'You set a mark in the fields outside the forest.' said Grimm, trying again. 'Why? Who are you working with?'

'As I said - to set you a mystery worthy of your keen and understanding mind.' Maze drawled. 'As to who I am working with? How do you know I am not acting on my own?'

'Because of your new toys.' said Grimm. 'You don't do science any better than you do ballet, so don't tell me you made them yourself out of sticks and dirt.'

'These?' said Maze, gesturing to the equipment he wore. 'Let us simply say they came to me... out of the _blue_.' Rhonda blinked at this, and stopped struggling against Grimm's restraining hand.

While they spoke, Chief Sakituya had lowered a hand to his hip, where a small drum hung from his belt. And he had begun lightly tapping it. The sound was barely audible, but Maze's eyes twinkled. 'I see that Sakituya wishes to end our little talk. Very well, I have said all I intend to... for the moment. I have even given you some information you did not have before. Now let us see if the cunning fox can unravel the strands I have so generously given you. Farewell, for now - I will be watching.'

There was a rustle of movement from the entryway as several of Sakituya's tribe dashed into the hall. But the shadows in the corner of the room spread quickly, as if the sun was moving in super-fast motion. Maze's form blended into the darkness and vanished.

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

'I have to say I'm not too impressed with the security so far.' Grimm muttered, stepping back into their cabin. Rhonda and Rueful followed him in, but Sakituya remained on the doorstep.

'I did not expect _Sskipoyiwa_ to enter the camp so brazenly.' said Sakituya, shaking his head. 'My people will be on their guard now - it will _not_ happen again. If you will excuse me, I must go and inform _Samoset_ and the others.' Grimm nodded, and Sakituya left, closing the wooden door behind him.

There was a silent pause which stretched out for minute until Rhonda spoke. 'So - what do you think?'

Grimm sighed. 'I'm not sure. Sometimes you need to fight fire with fire. Sakituya's people might be able to counter Maze's shadow abilities, and after last time? I know it'll take more than our tech to track him down.'

'So why'd he come here?' said Rhonda. 'Just to dance in front of us and yell _neener neener neener_?'

'No. I was guessing in the hall, but now I'm sure of it.' said Grimm. 'He wants something.'

'Well if it's a fight he wants, let's just go to one of the clearings in the forest!' Rhonda growled. 'I'll bear up on his sorry butt if he's got the guts to show!'

Grimm shook his head. 'I doubt it'll be that simple.' he said. 'You saw that gear he was wearing? It wasn't just cosplay. That's _real_ tech he's got on - I've never seen anything like it.'

'Sure we have.' Rhonda said. 'Drakken, Dementor - they're lousy with widgets and bee-bops like that.'

Grimm sighed. 'I said already - I _don't_ think it's them.'

'Aw, come on!' said Rhonda, feeling the bite of resentment again. 'You heard what Maze said - _out of the blue_? Blue? Drakken? This has his fingerprints all over it!'

'It's _too_ obvious.' said Grimm, his voice hardening. 'Misdirection - oldest trick in the book. Make people think it's something other than what it actually is. We've used the trick on others too many times to fall for it ourselves.'

'Why?' Rhonda snapped. 'I mean, what harm would it do to just call Drakken up and _ask_ him again? There's no rule that says we can't make double sure. And I thought you said you _listen_ to your peeps - you're sure not listening now.'

But Grimm was stepping around her and moving to the door. 'I don't want to discuss this anymore.' he said flatly. 'I need to go see Sakituya and find out...' But as he opened the door, he stopped on the doorstep of the cabin porch, and so did Rhonda.

Standing at the foot of the stairs looking up at them was one of Sakituya's tribe. He was a young man, looking about their own age. He was muscular and athletic looking, wearing a simple outfit of jeans, a brown shirt, and what looked like a vest made of hand-stitched animal hides.

He had no idea who he was, but based on nothing more than the way he was looking at Rhonda, Grimm disliked him at once. He didn't seem to heed Grimm at all in fact - his attention was totally focused on Rhonda. 'Who are you?' said Grimm.

'I am Corey.' he said at last. 'Corey Proudheart.'

Grimm scowled. 'Of... course you are.' he said dryly. 'Can we _help_ you with anything?' and in his mind he thought, _'Like finding the exit?'_

'Not all of our tribe is as skeptical as _Enkoodabaoo_.' said Corey, only giving Grimm a half glance. 'I believe in our Chief, and I have come to pledge my service to the Bear Priestess.'

Rhonda was looking at him as if she'd been struck dumb. 'Ah...' she started, but Grimm broke over her.

'She's not suffering from lack of _service_.' he said. 'If she wants help, she'll ask for it.'

Corey turned his eyes fully to Grimm now, as if appraising him. 'Perhaps you should let the Bear Priestess speak for herself, instead of presuming that you speak _for_ her.' he said calmly.

Grimm blinked, at a loss for words. _'Oh, no you di'nt!'_ he thought angrily.

Rhonda could sense Grimm's anger flaring up and stepped forward. 'Thanks.' she said, thinking fast. She didn't want to start their partnership with the tribe by having Grimm putting Kung-Fu moves on the local hottie. She blinked inwardly. _Did I just think he was a hottie?_ 'I... I'm glad you're willing to help out - just... make sure Maze doesn't get into the camp again.'

Corey nodded, keeping his eyes fixed on hers. 'I will guard your cabin with my _life_.' he said, his voice sounding utterly dreamy.

'With your _eyes_ will be just fine.' Grimm growled, whisking himself and Rhonda quickly back into the cabin.

'Yeah his... _eyes_.' said Rhonda under her breath.

Grimm pushed the door nearly to, and talked more quickly. 'I'm gonna go see exactly what Sakituya and his peeps are doing to guard the camp.' he said quietly. 'In the meantime, we have to assume that security isn't airtight, and that we're both targets. Keep your gear ready at all times, and stay _inside_ for now.'

Rhonda was still feeling miffed over Grimm's stubborn refusal to even try contacting Drakken, and didn't answer right away. But then she felt his hand laid gently aside her cheek and heard his voice speaking softly in her ear.

'Please?' he said.

Rhonda shrugged. 'Okay...' she said resentfully.

'Thanks, babe.' he said. 'I'll feel better knowing you're out of harm's way as much as possible.' He paused with his hand on the door handle. 'We should put our own security measures in place.' he said. 'If you want to help out, see what you can come up with.' Then he was gone.

Rhonda stared at the door for several minutes after Grimm had left, tapping her foot on the floorboards. _'All right fine, be that way.'_ she thought. _'I acted without you when I was Poxorza, I can do it again!'_ 'Rueful?' she said out loud, and Rueful leaped down with a furry-pawed salute as if waiting for orders. 'Think you can get the local weasels to help keep an eye out for Maze? They're night-time animals and they range all over.'

Rueful thumped his foot enthusiastically on the floor and nodded, following Rhonda as she opened the door and stepped out onto the porch. Grimm was nowhere to be seen, and neither was Corey. She looked up at the roof of the cabin and cleared her throat. Nothing seemed to happen.

'Guys?' she said, timidly. After another pause, she raised her voice a little. '_Guys_? Come on, I _know_ you're out there, you never leave me alone whenever I'm here...'

There was a scampering, pattering sound, and a few squirrels craned their necks, looking down at her from the rooftop. A pair of weasels darted out from the surrounding forest, and several birds lighted onto the cabin roof, including the large hawk which had been there earlier. All of them were looking at her curiously.

'Uh... thanks.' she said, feeling weird. This was different than hanging out with the animals near her house in Riddleton. She knew them fairly well, but the wild animals at Kwitcherbeliakin just felt different, like giving a speech in front of a crowd of strangers. But she went on. 'Listen, there's a guy named Maze hiding somewhere in the forest, you know about him, right?' The assembled animals all chittered, chirped and nodded.

'Well, I need you guys to make sure he doesn't sneak into the camp. If he tries, raise some kind of alarm, okay? Make as big a racket as you want. Are there any owls out there?'

At this, the hawk screeched loudly, and a few seconds later, a brown owl glided over the treetops and fluttered onto the cabin roof.

Rhonda nodded. 'Great! Spread the word to all your buddies and see if you can _find_ where Maze is hiding. If you spot him, let me know. That cool?' the animals all nodded again, filling the air with their chirps and squeals.

'Okay, now don't neglect your families and stuff. You can still hunt and everything like you usually do. Just _add_ this to your routines for a while. I wish we had some guards too...'

But Rueful was shaking his head now, and let out a squeak that sounded like 'Mmm -_mmm_!'

'We don't need any? Why not?' The hawk on the roof let out a shrill cry again, and Rhonda blanched. '_Who's _already standing guard?' she squeaked.

Rueful turned and jabbed his paw towards the neighboring cabin. Gentle Paw was shambling slowly towards her, with his cubs trailing behind him. Rhonda's first instinct was to run up the nearest tree. But the bears lined up in front of the porch, looking out at her along with the rest of the animals. She stood there trembling for several seconds.

'So you guys are... on _bodyguard_ duty?' she said. Gentle Paw nodded and snuffed loudly. His cubs were nodding and drooling with their mouths open. Rhonda sighed, fighting with the phobias she had built over several weeks at the camp when she was a kid. At last she drew her hand across her eyes, wiping away some nervous sweat. 'Well, yeah I guess Maze would think twice about barging in if there are _bears_ on patrol. Okay, you're in. But _please_... don't eat me!'

At this, Gentle Paw and his cubs let out rasping, short gasps with their heads bobbing up and down.

'It's not _funny_!' Rhonda said. 'I've been scared of bears my whole life - I wouldn't even ask except... it's _Maze_ we're talking about here. And he... well you know what he did last time.'

The bears went quiet, except for one mournful sounding growl from Gentle Paw.

'Well... that's it for now.' said Rhonda uncomfortably. 'Carry on, or something.'

The animals all paused, their heads bobbing back and forth, then they scattered and disappeared into the nearby woods or into the air. Gentle Paw and his cubs remained on the cabin porch, and stood at either side of the door. Rhonda was about to flinch her way past the bears and back inside when she felt a prickle that said she was being watched. She turned and saw Corey, standing a few yards away. He was looking at her and smiling. He gave a short bow of his head, then stepped around another cabin and out of sight.

Later inside, Rhonda sat on her bunk bed, looking down at her communicator. She had called Jade, and told her about the council, about Maze's sudden appearance, and everything she could remember about what he had said. She also voiced her suspicions about who Maze was working with, and Grimm's refusal to take it seriously.

'So you really think Maze and Drakken are behind all this?' Jade said.

'It all _fits_, Jade.' she said. 'Drakken supplies Maze with new tech, and death rays while Maze uses his shadows to make sure they can pull it off without anyone noticing.'

'But why?' Jade said. 'What do they gain from torching grass?'

'I won't know until I ask them.' said Rhonda. 'Can you get me in touch with Drakken? I think he'd be a little more loose-lipped about what he's up to. You know how he loves to brag if someone just gooses his ego a little.'

Jade winced a little. 'Could be tough. I think he's in transit. You remember he said he was moving to a different lair.'

'Either that, or he's coordinating with Maze right _now_. Keep trying.' said Rhonda. 'And don't let Grimm in on it, okay? He's digging in his heels, but...' She sighed deeply. '...I think he's _wrong _onthis.'

Jade whistled. 'Wow.' she said. 'I've never heard you _question_ Grimm before.' she said. 'Guess graduating didn't just get you a diploma - it's made you a _strong independent womaaaaaaan_!' She ended on a sing-song note, raising her hands and waving her fingers.

Rhonda chuckled. 'I guess being Poxorza made me see that I can do things on my _own_ for a change.' There was a high pitched growl from outside. 'Gotta go, I think Grimm's coming back.' she said quickly. 'Keep me posted, but do it on the down-low!'

'On it - peace out!' And the communicator screen went black.

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

Seated in the _Crow_, Maze turned off his own communicator screen. He had used the equipment on the _Crow_ to eavesdrop on _Katasistsikoowa_ and her friend. The Lorwardian tech had made it absurdly easy, compared to the odyssey of his weeks working with Monkey Fist on the Ultra-Atmospheric Jammer. He smiled darkly as he exited the cockpit and stepped out into the still air of a hollow which formed a pocket in the high cliffs of a mountainside.

The _Crow_ was nestled in the hollow, and Maze glanced aside at an ancient statue of the Great Bear Spirit. He wondered briefly if _Otaatoyiwa_ and the others would guess that he was using this hollow as a refuge - the very place where they had first defeated him months ago. But even if they did, it would not matter. Through the devices given to him, he now had the power to contend against his enemies, or escape, whichever he wished.

He stepped out to the edge of the hollow, looking down on the forest far below as evening fell and the shadows of night began their slow gathering. He allowed himself a mirthless laugh. He had gone to Kwitcherbeliakin, expecting that _Otaatoyiwa_, with his sharper mind, would fall for his ruse. But of all people, it was _Katasistsikoowa _who had responded. If he were not so eager for success in his gambit, he might have been even more amused by the irony.

_'Who would have thought that you would prove to be the most useful to me, Katasistsikoowa?'_ he thought grimly. _'I suppose I should be grateful now that you were delivered out of the world of spirits. For now, I shall let you ponder some more. I shall allow more discord to grow between you and your friend. And then, I think you will be prepared to help me instigate the invasion, and destroy the white man's world...'_

Coming Soon:

Chapter 9

Diverging Paths

_Author: In the interest of getting chapters out faster, I will probably forego drawing a lot of pictures in the future, if any at all. I've just got too many other things going on, coupled with the fact that my drawing muse seems to have run out of gas, at least in terms of the fanfiction pages. Too much effort vs. too little payback. I just need to manage my time better to get the story done. Unless inspiration hits me really hard with an image that I think just has to be conveyed :)_


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